What does it mean to be “on the radar?”

It is clear from recent awards received in our general direction and donations from Coldplay’s t-shirt sales that we are beginning to make an impact…not massive, this is no giant rock the size of Manhattan hurtling towards us through space, but we are being noticed, especially in the city, but also further afield. This can only be good for us, right? Local BBC broadcaster, Kofi Smiles was the man who actually presented Martin with his Make a Difference award in September, and we have appeared on his show albeit remotely on a few special occasions over the years.

A month or so later, we were presented with yet another opportunity because Kofi asked us to join him as part of his Children in Need 3 legged race across the city, competing against his fellow BBC presenter, Carla Greene.  For the final “leg” of his 12 mile hike across the city, we joined him, along with mobile brass outfit, Bandanarama!  “Brass out of Hull!”

Kofi strapped to Martin and the two of them leading the way, we counted down from 5 and then we were off.  One of us was only there to get some decent footage for the socials, but as the band struck up, I was handed a tambourine and the rhythm took me over!

I filmed the group as they left, Kofi and Martin sharing three legs between them before realising I would need to lock the gates and then run to catch them up afterwards.  I didn’t know I had it in me!

As we entered the old town, we became a wonderfully noisy spectacle, “That’s the way aha aha, I like it,” was being chanted through a megaphone and the city of Hull responded by singing and dancing along with us. Of course we would expect nothing less. There were even reports of people throwing money at us along the way!

At the bottom of Whitefriargate, we paused briefly and some of Hull’s finest citizens managed to get hold of some of the percussion instruments from the band and joined us in a rendition of “Rock the Boat,” before we moved on to Queen Victoria Square where Kofi and Martin crossed the race finish line, ending the race across the city in a dead heat with Carla who started her journey from the opposite side of the city. What a great time we had!

Look out for another Rooted in Hull exposé too, as The Wildlife Trust just made an excellent short film highlighting the benefits of their Coronation Gardens for Food and Nature using us as an example of all the good stuff that can arise from turning an unused space into a place to grow, and you know by now, we’re not just talking about growing food.