At the end of last year I posted about a crowd funding campaign for a project that I am working on with two friends, Sam and Ian, which aims to encourage children to engage more in outdoor activities. The initial stage of the project is to produce a children's storybook that also doubles up as a cookbook, whilst providing seeds and instructions for growing one of the ingredients that forms an integral part of the story. I'm happy to say that we met our £8000 target (largely down to the hard work put in by Sam and Ian, whose commitment and infectious enthusiasm for the project pulled in backers from all walks of life) which will enable us to complete this first stage of the project.
All the stories in this and future stages of the project will be based around a group of cartoon characters, Hugly and Friends, that Sam and I developed from my initial sketches. And what we're now really excited about is welcoming on board the newest member of our team, the talented writer, Gemma Appleton, who will help us bring Hugly and his friends truly to life.
We are proud, at this very early stage, to already have support for the project from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and River Cottage - but the children's storybook/cookbook is just the start, and we have plans to develop Hugly’s world in more detail, offering exciting grow kits, outdoor games and interactive apps that use real outdoor experiences, and much, much more.