Selfsufficientish.com

OK Andy,
I've sent you a PM but it went a bit weird as I was sending it and so let me if it hasn't gone through.
Stonehead, here's a source of possible business funding that doesn't require you to be in possession of a walking stick or still in nappies:
www.fredericksfoundation.org
No idea if you'd qualify but take a look anyway.

Chili, you forgot to take your hat back off!

One nice aspect about registering as a business is that you can make a loss. I was earning some beer money writing in small press magazines a few years ago and registered as a self-employed author. Wrote the outline for a novel set partly in Indonesia and then went on a research trip - self and wife, 2 weeks in Java, claimed 50% of my own costs as research expenses. Knocked the loss off my liability for other self-employment.

Don't know if it was legal, but they didn't query it!

Yep, offsetting losses of one trade against profits from another source is one of the joys of self-employment.
*Removes professional hat