How to plant a forest without money!

We are a little over three weeks into the project to plant a Covid19 Memorial Forest, but gosh it does seem much, much longer. So much progress has been made in such a short time. Back in May when we first started kicking ideas around about this project it was hard to imagine we would reach this point. We had no money for the project, and planting a Forest wasn’t even in our minds. So how did we get here, and where exactly is here anyway?

A mad week to be proud of

This week has been a mad busy week, on top of a month of mad busy weeks before this. But it has been worth it. Three weeks after launching the Covid-19 Memorial Forest Fund we have hit some major milestones.

1. Support is growing fast:

Our supporters across Social Media platforms are now being measured into thousands, rather than in tens when we started a few weeks ago. Our marketing engagement stats for our posts would make the marketing departments of the biggest brands drool with envy.  People are telling us they want this Memorial Forest, and we want to deliver it for them.

2. The Forest is being planned:

We’ve entered into a Consultation period on the Forest plans so we can start to understand what our supporters want to see in their Memorial Forest. A survey has for instance been published to get some views as a starting point. This is only the start of our consultation process, but it is an important stage so we create the Forest in the way people want to see it. If you haven’t yet completed it, please complete the survey now .  Your help will really ensure we continue to progress with achieving the aims of planting a Covid-19 Memorial Forest.

3. The campaign is ramping up:

We’re now not only posting pictures and ideas as we did at the start a few weeks ago.  We are starting to launch more information and details on the Forest and we’ve also launched a new professional Video for the campaign that our team is really proud of. But, we would say that…. Watch the video and make up your own mind.  Please let us know what you think. Would it persuade you to support the cause?

But, you said you didn’t have any money to get here. How did you do it?

I’m glad you asked that question :-).  It gives me an opportunity to mention everyone who has helped get this project to where it is today.

Firstly, this project would never have started without the initial idea, vision, and determination from Salmaan Nasser the Chief Vision Officer of this project. His sincerity and deep desire to help people who have lost a loved one because of Covid-19 made this project happen by bringing a team together and creating a  vision to work towards.

But, in this interdependent world we live in nothing is ever down to one person of course. It has been through the commitment of Salmaan’s friends, family, and the new supporters of the project gained along the way that have helped get the project this far. Everyone has given their time and skills for free to start this project and get it to where it is today. Even the professional voice over actress for our video, Katherine Rodden, waived her fee when she found out what the cause was for.  This type of commitment is, I feel, extraordinary.

So, how do you build a Forest without any money?

The answer is that without money you can get a campaign launched professionally through commitment, support, and goodwill of friends, family, and good-hearted supporters. That much we have demonstrated.

But, in this commercial world you can’t plant a Forest of any kind without money. It has to come from somewhere. Some might be grants, some may be from Government help (fingers crossed anyhow… we will try :-)), some from business sponsorship, and some from commercial ventures. But you also need to get help from other ordinary people who believe in the same cause.

That’s why we’ve launched a JustGiving page this week. This will help the Covid19 memorial Forest Fund raise the money we need right now to move to the next stage of buying land to plant the forest.

We have been humbled so far by the support given to this project. But we have to ask more.  We are asking that, if you can afford it in these troubled times, please give a donation today to help make this project succeed.  No matter how small the donation, every pound will make a difference.

We don’t think the loved ones lost because of Covid 19 should be forgotten. If you believe the same, please donate today to help make the Covid-19 Memorial Forest a reality.