Making therapy kites for library

I have decided to design, build, and create a local kite library of 16 therapy kites for people to borrow from the collection during the weekly Blackheath kite-ballet meetups that I facilitate.

A therapy kite is for someone who is in the waiting list for therapy or already going through therapy, and would choose a kite specifically to sit with a feeling, and fly for a couple of hours in an open space. I have added AI to my first kites, so that the machine learning follows the kite, the sound design follows the machine learning, and the moods, embodied emotion and sensation follows the sound design.

I am motivated by a deep interest in facilitating a community group that supports those like myself who have been likely to be financially short of their potential and intermittent flow dynamics while being in the mental health system but also includes those from any background who seek to be included in team leadership model and practise, with priority that the governance shares the group's power with everyone generously.

This is a complete investment of my time, and will move onwards over the next few years towards outcomes we set as a community platform for kite-ballet and technology.

 I do not want to wrap the idea of starting a group too closely to this funding proposal. I am studying a collaborative leadership model, so that a future group is a lot less about me and more about what the group decide through integration of their economic model and collaborative decision making. So that is some wider context planning, but this fund outcome is just towards making concept kites to buy raw materials needed to attract people to a future community group with good standards and core competancies.

Kite-Ballet is a team sport. The image below is four 'sixth-sense' kites I made at south London Makerspace from opensource plans generously published for private use only on kareloh.com 

My job over winter is to design and build my own concept kites that I can also release as opensource kite plans for others to download, so your kindness will facilitate future kindness.

Your £1000 will fund five of sixteen concept kites for the new kite library, to attract people towards being involved, towards co-designing the full library together as a group/ groups, facilitated by a shared leadership model.

People will reserve their kite through a facilitator and pay a small amount towards borrowing the kite, around £4-7. This will pay towards broken carbon fibre frames. If the funds are too low, we will have to raise money for new frames, but expert kite tuition at the meetup should reduce costs.

Each kite is worth around £200, and if a member borrows any kite from the collection, if the total is £170 they have just bought a used, reconditioned kite from the library so that a new kite can be created for the library, enabling improvements and changes to this.

Here is a video from last summer, where I supported a community arts network for the museum of sporting history in Newmarket.

This project introduces creative technology and A.I (precisely through machine learning) to a grass roots group,

also introduces new people to the sport Kite-Ballet, and uses open outdoor spaces to create mini-breaks for those who need it.

It will enable accessible kite flying and therapy to those who can not fly a kite but can code, co-design kites, make music using accessible creative technology.

This is my first publication requesting money, I live in supported accomodation for medium to low support needs and will have to make the leap to finding my own supported independence locally as well as work towards an economic model for group practise that works, so small steps are necessary to make the right practical decisions, and this is about the right scope for me at this stage. The money would be split £100 per week for ten weeks, and spent directly on materials to make kites. The support team where I live will also pledge some funds because some tennants here would gain experience and outdoor time, which I believe strongly will add to the flow of the place.

Gratefully,

Zachary