Day 2 - UK

Amazingly at 6am almost everyone is outside the hotel ready to go to Spitalfields Market. On route we pick up Eric, who turns out to be a larger than life character who has started a social empire from humble beginnings five years ago and with £40 of fresh fruit and vegetables. Currently his enterprise stands at:

• Approximately 12 community shops
• Schools training programme
• Community café
• Curriculum development to be rolled out to other Schools throughout England
• Healthy cooking courses
• Community dinners

I am sure there are others in development and each one of these is based on a simple premise of healthy eating by the provision of fresh fruit & vegetables and associated activities. Eric’s ability to extend his basic offering across and up the value chain is impressive as if he had been advised by McKinsey’s Strategists and yet Eric is a down to earth ‘regular’ guy.

We met the various people that play a vital role within the Eric’s venture:

• market traders
• community shop volunteers
• buyer/driver
• Eric’s running mate and venture partner

What is amazing is how Eric manages to enthuse his passion onto others including the people at the restaurant at the market – they respect him, support his venture and get involved in his activities.

Day 1 - UK

Normally I write ‘Buzzes’ rather than ‘Blogs’. ‘Buzzes’ are those world-altering ideas that hit you just as you get into bed and that aren’t going to leave you in peace until you put fingers to keyboard. This evening, it seems like Blog and Buzz are one and the same – writing about today is basically collating a whole series of other people’s inspiring ideas and stories, any one of which would normally spark off enough excitement to keep me buzzing for about a week. The overstimulation was so much for me yesterday that I couldn’t sleep until 5.30am; writing a blog tonight is also verging on a medical necessity for me!

Buzz one hit me on pushing open the heavy door at the top of a filthy derelict warehouse staircase to reveal a rickety-ikea-cool welcoming light warm space. Industrial converted to industrious, The Hub makes you want to whip out a sleek laptop and create or design or share brilliant ideas in discreet undertones. Or, as the twelve of us meeting there actually did, moan about early mornings and gobble the organic tropical fruit breakfast laid on.

Richard’s first exercise had us clinging to the plates of pineapple as we were polarised across the room by various searching political questions. An individual’s ability to create social change, the timeframe for change, the justification for millionaire social entrepreneurs – realising that all but two of my colleagues completely disagreed with my most deeply held beliefs about right and wrong was challenging for me before nine o’clock this morning. It made me despair a little.