The first viewing

Quite a day! The student team had a two to three hour drive to Lydney to meet David and Oli from the RCNs systems department who are helping us set up our cyber cafe!

The bus wasn't quite ready for us so we went off to Taurus Crafts centre just down the road for a cup of tea and to get the laptops all linked up with the wifi dongles and make sure we could access any important documents from the bus.Taurus crafts has some fantastic shops full of handmade jewellery, pottery and cards. Our favourite bit is the cafe, managed and run by people with learning disabilities. There is always such a warm welcome, the service is great and you can see how much everyone enjoys working there.

The vinyl wrap for the bus, which is basically the outside decor - big stickers, were finished just before the rain started which was a relief, we've heard there has been some pretty serious flooding in Swansea where we are headed at the end of this week so we're crossing our fingers that the weather doesn't get too rough! Whose idea was it to sit on a converted bus for twelve weeks over winter?! Ah yes, that'll be us! At least we didn't go for an open top!

We got back to the bus just in time to stop the plasma screen being installed downstairs rather than upstairs in the seminar room! There were a few fraught seconds but it was hung in the right place within a few minutes. The seats upstairs are so comfortable and there is loads of leg space which we were a bit worried about at first, Rob and his team have done a great job creating an inviting space for students that is also a bit fun!

The bus really does look fab, we can't wait to get it properly loaded up with publications and freebies (oops, the magic word!) tomorrow and have our first visitors. We'll be at Whitchurch Hospital from about 8.30ish so if you're in the area please do come and see us.

Some pictures from today will be going up on Flickr so do have a look, just search for the RCN Student Bus.

More tomorrow!

Laura, RCN Student Coordinator