As 2010 draws to a close and I look at all the things I have done – that I have experienced, contributed to or been a part of – well frankly I’m amazed at just what I have packed in!

It’s been a busy year and one that has taken many unexpected twists and turns, with the highlight most definitely being the surprise trip to America for my birthday in October.    Coming close behind was my experience on Dartmoor with the students from Birmingham – what a week that was – and then there was my London city break with Roy, the day trips, shows, dinners, evenings with friends, travel up and down the country for work, HRH Prince Philip at the RSA – so many good memories.

It’s also been a year of coming to terms with loss, and understanding and managing grief.   It’s over a year now since mum died – our second Christmas without her.  I still cry.   We all do.     Something about that whole experience opened a window in to my soul, and I cry so easily at so many things now.   I feel things so much more and certainly experiences of others – real or fictional – touch me deeply.   Perhaps that person was always there, waiting underneath, and a veneer of protection has been peeled away.

So am I older and wiser?   I think I can hold my hand up to both.  I have learned so much about myself in the last twelve months, and about others.   Relationships have deepened, bonds have strengthened, journeys have been shared.   I’ve enjoyed 2010 and I’m looking forward to the year ahead.

I made my third appearance on BBC Radio today.   Not bad going really – three appearances in less than two years.

Stupidly, I think I was probably most-nervous about this broadcast despite it really being the most-relaxed.   At least this time I was on home ground, with the recording taking place at one of the Foundation’s projects in Essex.  On previous occasions I’ve had to go in to the studio and take part in a live broadcast, and I’ve also done Down The Line.   DTL was probably the hardest, because it was very much a case of being interviewed without any forewarning of what was going to come my way.    On this occasion we did a walk through and then the recording was based on the prep we had already done.   So why was I so nervous?  Because it was important I guess, and the project is one that is very close to my heart.

I also felt a bit of a fraud to be honest, because although the project was my baby in the beginning, it’s Jonathan that has made it what it is over the last twelve months, in combination with the volunteers, and yet here am I taking centre stage on the radio to talk about the value of what we are doing, and why it’s important to run community based initiatives which make a social impact – contributing to the welfare of both “nature and our neighbours” – a nice phrase I managed to drop in to the broadcast.

The reporter who came out to the project felt that we’d produced a really nice item, and it was worthwhile putting it out on the air on Christmas Eve, when there was still some remaining snow on the ground (we recorded the item outdoors and were deep in fresh snow at the time) and that it was a nice story for today anyway.

So, hopefully it went out on air and the Foundation came across well.   We’ve become very much embedded in our local community, but now need to think about spreading ourselves further out into the south east.    That’s something for the New Year though.