Me and the Minister of Drink: I mean Minister of Health and Wealth!

Wow. What a morning. I went to Embo just because I read about their village hall and school on the Internet when I was planning my route. I expected to go into a local shop, give some cash and leave. No. That doesn't happen. Instead, I rode around the whole village. I found the only shop. I went in and asked the man about the fund. He didn't know what I meant at first. Then he shouted back the only other customer who was just leaving. Turned out her mother was in charge of the fund. She took me to her mother's house where I was invited in. Two hours later I left having spent time learning all about the village and what they are trying to achieve.

Basically, they no longer have a focal point for the village, Jeanette explained. The old hall is now so run down that it is not fit to use. As a result, the community spirit is disappearing. There is no way for newcomers to get to know the other residents and the village has lost its heart. They want to build a new village hall to get this spirit back.

Now the fascinating part. In 1988 (this is a long running campaign), in order to gain some publicity for the campaign, the village wrote to the Queen, asking for permission to declare their independence for 24 hours. Believe it or not, the Queen gave her permission, and for a 24 hour period, the village of Embo was an independent state. The press got hold of it and it just ballooned. Lorraine Kelly came up and did a feature for GMTV and even foreign reporters turned up. Admittedly, the French ones turned up because they thought that Embo was declaring full and permanent independence! So the story took hold. A special Scotch was bottled by the local distillery to mark the occasion. Jeanette showed me one. Apparently they are worth quite a bit on Ebay now. They also had their own currency; the Cuddy! She was going to give me one but was unable to find any. Jeanette herself was appointed 'Minister of Drink' although she now prefers the title of 'Minister of Health and Wealth'! I've seen the plans for the community hall and they look great. They are applying for Lottery funding too, but have been turned down once before.

I have had the best morning from the most unexpected quarter. This is a great cause, and a great story. There is so much more to it than I would have expected. I wasn't looking forward to the last few days of the trip as I was thinking I had left the best behind. But this was a timely reminder that life is full of wonderful surprises if you just take the time to look for them.

If anyone feels moved to donate, please contact me. I have full details of how you can do it painlessly through online banking or phone banking.