Page 23 of Fireworks at Pennycress Inn
‘And once people are in the reserve, because it’s so big, I thought we could perhaps put up a few signs. Just pointing people in the direction of the main attractions to begin with, before working on a few distinct routes visitors could take depending on whether they were wheelchair and pushchair accessible, shorter, longer, that type of thing. A woodland walk, perhaps?’ Keeping her eyes fixed on her scribbles, Polly shuffled through her papers until she found the next one. ‘And then there is this place, the visitor centre. I feel the foyer leading through to the toilets is a great space to encourage people to care for the reserve. We could update the displays, make them fresher, with maybe some before and after photos of parts of the reserve, to show visitors where their donations go.’
‘And move the donation box from the car park to the visitor centre? To be close whilst people are thinking about donating?’ Vicki tapped her pen against the table excitedly.
‘Or have both. There’s no reason we can’t keep the one in the car park to catch people as they leave and have a new one by the displays.’ Art pointed his finger towards Declan’s notebook.
‘Yes, yes. Good, very good.’ Dipping his head, Declan added to his notes.
‘I know we’re not going to raise anything anywhere close to the amount Zac has proposed to raise from corporate companies but…’ Polly shrugged.
‘No, I get it.’ Declan stabbed his pen in her direction. ‘We need to make people care. If they care about the reserve, they’re more likely to donate. Plus, once we’ve got them here, there’s nothing stopping us from putting on special fundraising events.’
‘Exactly. If we can increase the footfall to the reserve, there’s so much more we can do. We could set up little Santa trails at Christmas, where children have to spot a certain number of pictures of reindeer or something around the reserve. If we charge them, just a bit, we can give them a prize at the end and raise money that way. We can do the same at Easter and Halloween. We could host fun days and charge stallholders to set up stalls.’ Polly pushed her papers into the middle of the table, spreading them out, her ideas in full view.
‘And the café. With more people visiting the reserve, the café is bound to make more and some of the profits go back into the reserve, don’t they?’ Dennis glanced at Declan for clarification.
‘That’s right.’ Picking up one of the papers, Declan raised his eyebrows. ‘You’ve worked hard on this, Polly. I’m impressed. With the tweaks and improvements you’re suggesting, how much do you expect we can increase our footfall?’
‘Oh, I’m not sure. Sorry.’ Polly picked up her pen again, twisting it in her hands. ‘I’ve not got that far with these ideas, but I have thought I’d quite like to visit some other reserves in the vicinity to gauge an idea of how well they’re doing with regard to visitor numbers.’
‘Good idea.’ Declan nodded. ‘I look forward to seeing how this goes.’
‘Thank you.’ Polly grinned as relief flooded through her body. ‘I know it’s not rocket science but…’
‘Nope, it’s great. As I think I mentioned when you and Zac first arrived, we’ve had a few too many changes on the staffing front and after being understaffed for so long, we’ve let things slip. Things like this.’ Declan waved his hand across the table, indicating Polly’s papers.
Polly nodded as she felt the fierce rush of self-consciousness warm her cheeks. She was pleased everyone had taken so well to her plans and she was relieved to hear Declan didn’t feel she was undermining anything which had been attempted in the past.
‘Thank you all. We’ll regroup next week and see how everyone’s getting along.’ Declan turned back to the page of Polly’s notes he was holding.
With the meeting declared over, Polly watched as Art, Dennis, Vicki and Zac filtered outside before standing and collecting her papers. She shuffled them into a neat pile as she waited for Declan to finish perusing the last one.
‘Here you go.’ Standing up, Declan passed her the paper before lowering his voice. ‘I’m very impressed. You’ve come in here and spotted the root of the problem with the reserve: the lack of regular visitors. Not only that, but you’ve suggested solutions too.’
‘I’ve tried to.’ Polly looked down as she slipped the paper Declan had given her into the pile with the others.
‘Marvellous job. You continue like this and I’m going to have a really tough time choosing who takes over my role.’ Declan turned to the door, patting her on the shoulder as he left.
‘Oh, umm, thanks.’
Had he really just said that? Was she still in the running to get the promotion? Even though there was no chance of her raising as much as Zac could?
As she heard the click of the door shut behind her, Polly sank back into her chair in the now empty meeting room. All was not lost. She still had a chance at this, a chance at her new start. And if that was the case, then she knew one thing: she would work her butt off to succeed, or failing that, just so she knew in her heart she’d given it her best shot.
15
Polly yawned as she walked up the garden path towards Pennycress Inn. After staying late at the office surveying the few visitors they did have to the reserve and working on more proposals, she was ready for her bed. There was nothing more she wanted than to throw herself onto the ridiculously comfy mattress and pull the squishy duvet over her head. Only then would she be able to turn her brain off and quiet the whirring of ideas.
Now she knew she was still in the running for the promotion regardless of bringing in less funding than Zac, her mind was brimming with thoughts and she was excited to get them down on paper, but she did need to give in to her body as it screamed at her to rest.
As she climbed the steps up to the decking which wrapped itself around half of the inn, the door opened in front of her and Laura, Jackson, Nicola and Zac spilled out. ‘Hi.’
‘There you are. Aren’t we glad you’re back now. I was worried we’d miss you.’ Laura tucked her arm through hers as she spun Polly around back to face the gate again.
‘Huh? Sorry, where are you going?’ Polly glanced over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of Zac deep in conversation with Jackson and Nicola.
‘To the community hub meeting.’ Laura grinned at her as they made their way through the garden. ‘You hadn’t forgotten, had you?’
‘The community hub meeting? Of course.’ She had forgotten. The conversation with Nicola yesterday evening where she’d agreed to go along had completely escaped her mind.
