Monday, 29 March 2010
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Dream Factory Update!!!
Hello to everyone in the virtual world. Thought we'd drop by and let everybody know how our Dream Factory sponsored walk is coming along. Well firstly, it finally has a name! "The Big Silly Sleepwalk", with the tagline: "Sleepwalk to make a dream come true".
Secondly we now have the route planned out in Valentines park, it stretches over 5KM, so those who take part should expect a bit of a walk! But we don't think that getting sponsored to do a walk in fancy dress/ pyjamas is demanding enough. That is why we've added the twist of having a three legged sponsored walk in fancy dress/pyjamas (though for those in challenging outfits, this becomes optional).
Here's a reminder of the event description:
This is an event to raise money for The Dream Factory, a charity that helps to make the dreams come true for those with life threatening illnesses or severe disability aged between 3 - 25 yrs old.
The charity been running for 2 years now, and have already made the dreams of 42 people come true.
Patrons Include: Ray Winestone, Patsy Palmer, Vicki Michelle, Michelle Collins, Rt. Hon. Iain Duncun Smith, Dr Rory McRae, Larry & Dorean Golding.
So what we at the Youth Action Team, would like to do, is a three-legged sponsored walk encircling Valentines Park and as many times as it takes. And to give it a special touch, as this is of course no ordinary three-legged sponsored walk, we'll be doing it in our pyjamas! Some of us will even be parading in ADULT BABY GROWS!
The wackier the better, and remember we're doing this not just to be silly, but to make the dreams of seriously ill children come true. We are asking for a minimum of £10 worth of sponsorships to take part in the event. Bear in mind that could be something as simple as £1 from 10 people or £2 from 5 people. But we have full faith that you're all so much more convincing and motivated to raise more than just £10!
And of course, the more money you are able to collect, the more dreams you will be granting. So please get involved!
For a sponsorship form or if you have any queries, please email us on nelondon.youthactionteam@gmail.com.This event will take place on Sunday 11th of April between 2.30 and 5pm!
As well as this, we at the YAT, have decided on a briefing date, for all volunteers who wish to take part in one form or another which include: sponsored walk participants, stewards and general volunteers. This briefing will take place at The Downshall Centre On Wednesday 7th April between 6:30- 8:30pm.
And just as a reminder, here is a quick description of the whole event:
Secondly we now have the route planned out in Valentines park, it stretches over 5KM, so those who take part should expect a bit of a walk! But we don't think that getting sponsored to do a walk in fancy dress/ pyjamas is demanding enough. That is why we've added the twist of having a three legged sponsored walk in fancy dress/pyjamas (though for those in challenging outfits, this becomes optional).
Here's a reminder of the event description:
This is an event to raise money for The Dream Factory, a charity that helps to make the dreams come true for those with life threatening illnesses or severe disability aged between 3 - 25 yrs old.
The charity been running for 2 years now, and have already made the dreams of 42 people come true.
Patrons Include: Ray Winestone, Patsy Palmer, Vicki Michelle, Michelle Collins, Rt. Hon. Iain Duncun Smith, Dr Rory McRae, Larry & Dorean Golding.
So what we at the Youth Action Team, would like to do, is a three-legged sponsored walk encircling Valentines Park and as many times as it takes. And to give it a special touch, as this is of course no ordinary three-legged sponsored walk, we'll be doing it in our pyjamas! Some of us will even be parading in ADULT BABY GROWS!
The wackier the better, and remember we're doing this not just to be silly, but to make the dreams of seriously ill children come true. We are asking for a minimum of £10 worth of sponsorships to take part in the event. Bear in mind that could be something as simple as £1 from 10 people or £2 from 5 people. But we have full faith that you're all so much more convincing and motivated to raise more than just £10!
And of course, the more money you are able to collect, the more dreams you will be granting. So please get involved!
For a sponsorship form or if you have any queries, please email us on nelondon.youthactionteam@gmail.com.This event will take place on Sunday 11th of April between 2.30 and 5pm!
As well as this, we at the YAT, have decided on a briefing date, for all volunteers who wish to take part in one form or another which include: sponsored walk participants, stewards and general volunteers. This briefing will take place at The Downshall Centre On Wednesday 7th April between 6:30- 8:30pm.
And just as a reminder, here is a quick description of the whole event:
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Taking Over the Reins
On Wednesday, fellow YAT member Humza and I bravely took up the task of co-chairing the first team-member let YAT meeting.
I'm sure Humza will be along fairly soon to have his say, but personally I felt that we did an OK job!
Things started off quietly, and I did feel a little self-concious to begin with, having everyone looking at us. However, it wasn't long before the meeting began to flow as smoothly as usual.
We had an agenda to stick to, and we did our best to work around missing members. I would have said that I was surprised at how willing everyone appeared to be to be led by two of their peers, but actually it just fitted in with the respect for each other that we have all come to expect from being part of this team anyway.
We managed to cover everything on the agenda (although here's a tip for future chairs: make your agenda as detailed as you can - one or two items that I'd typed up at the weekend required some brain-racking to try and remember exactly what it was I'd wanted to be discussed!) and everyone stuck to our code-of-conduct by waiting their turn to speak and by letting everyone have their say, perhaps a little more than they usually do when the grown-ups are running it! (Although I think that was more because they were going easy on us as it was our first time!)
All-in-all, it was a good experience and I look forward to improving my chairing skills when I get opportunities in the future.
Good luck to next week's chairpersons!
I'm sure Humza will be along fairly soon to have his say, but personally I felt that we did an OK job!
Things started off quietly, and I did feel a little self-concious to begin with, having everyone looking at us. However, it wasn't long before the meeting began to flow as smoothly as usual.
We had an agenda to stick to, and we did our best to work around missing members. I would have said that I was surprised at how willing everyone appeared to be to be led by two of their peers, but actually it just fitted in with the respect for each other that we have all come to expect from being part of this team anyway.
We managed to cover everything on the agenda (although here's a tip for future chairs: make your agenda as detailed as you can - one or two items that I'd typed up at the weekend required some brain-racking to try and remember exactly what it was I'd wanted to be discussed!) and everyone stuck to our code-of-conduct by waiting their turn to speak and by letting everyone have their say, perhaps a little more than they usually do when the grown-ups are running it! (Although I think that was more because they were going easy on us as it was our first time!)
All-in-all, it was a good experience and I look forward to improving my chairing skills when I get opportunities in the future.
Good luck to next week's chairpersons!
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
The YAT Sussex Residential March 5th -7th 2010
Hello everyone,
I thought it would be exciting if I briefly talk about the YAT Residential which occurred last weekend. For those of us who attended, it was a weekend packed full of fun which brought us together in such a way we all probably want to go back there.
The residential was a step up from the Leadership and Empowerment Training we had in January. It was more practical in the sense we undertook a series of exciting activities to note but a few...
• Building bridges and towers out of newspapers
• Team Challenge in the Sussex woods
• Climbing the tallest wooden frame course known to man then jumping off it (with a safety harness of course)
• Various team building activities.
It was an event aimed at bringing the best out in ourselves. We covered various things such as how to be an effective leader, dealing with difficult people and how to understand dealing with problems. When we were not undertaking activities we played pool, table tennis and other sports.
There were also Blackjack, Cheat, and President Card games on hand to keep us entertained and charged. This proved very popular to such an extent that we were in the strange situation that those who learnt the games became better than those who were teaching them. (They know who they are). The two days we spent there the entire team would say was an excellent opportunity to get to know everyone in a completely different way to how we know each other in meetings at home.
The food was great and the surroundings were fantastic, you really felt like you had left everything behind in London. I didn't even think about work for 2 days myself as did many of the team. Perhaps the most interesting part of the weekend was climbing the huge exercise course. At first we all thought this was like walking a dog in the park until we realised it wasn't such an easy state of affairs. Even if we did or did not complete the climb, it was a fantastic challenge which certainly got the blood pumping.
Apart from the obvious lack of phone sockets, which seemed to upset the boys more than the girls (I wonder why), it was a wonderful weekend for all involved. We are now more than ready to prepare for the events we have lined up for 2010 such as Dream Factory which is coming up very soon in April.
In the mean time stayed tuned for the events we got coming up as the team keeps rolling on, as they say... ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!!!
Alex Hinds
I thought it would be exciting if I briefly talk about the YAT Residential which occurred last weekend. For those of us who attended, it was a weekend packed full of fun which brought us together in such a way we all probably want to go back there.
The residential was a step up from the Leadership and Empowerment Training we had in January. It was more practical in the sense we undertook a series of exciting activities to note but a few...
• Building bridges and towers out of newspapers
• Team Challenge in the Sussex woods
• Climbing the tallest wooden frame course known to man then jumping off it (with a safety harness of course)
• Various team building activities.
It was an event aimed at bringing the best out in ourselves. We covered various things such as how to be an effective leader, dealing with difficult people and how to understand dealing with problems. When we were not undertaking activities we played pool, table tennis and other sports.
There were also Blackjack, Cheat, and President Card games on hand to keep us entertained and charged. This proved very popular to such an extent that we were in the strange situation that those who learnt the games became better than those who were teaching them. (They know who they are). The two days we spent there the entire team would say was an excellent opportunity to get to know everyone in a completely different way to how we know each other in meetings at home.
The food was great and the surroundings were fantastic, you really felt like you had left everything behind in London. I didn't even think about work for 2 days myself as did many of the team. Perhaps the most interesting part of the weekend was climbing the huge exercise course. At first we all thought this was like walking a dog in the park until we realised it wasn't such an easy state of affairs. Even if we did or did not complete the climb, it was a fantastic challenge which certainly got the blood pumping.
Apart from the obvious lack of phone sockets, which seemed to upset the boys more than the girls (I wonder why), it was a wonderful weekend for all involved. We are now more than ready to prepare for the events we have lined up for 2010 such as Dream Factory which is coming up very soon in April.
In the mean time stayed tuned for the events we got coming up as the team keeps rolling on, as they say... ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!!!
Alex Hinds
Monday, 8 March 2010
Festive Favours - by Lauren and Sachin
Around Christmas time we took part in a project called “Festive Favours” – an idea formed by V in order to promote volunteering to young people throughout December. Festive Favours involved ‘Time Tokens’ – gifts in the form of fake cheques that worked rather like IOU tokens. Young people could give these tokens to friends or family in lieu of a Christmas present. Instead, the tokens represented a physical promise of the young person’s time. The aim of the project was to bring the idea of volunteering to the forefront of the minds of 16-25 years olds; they would offer to pledge their own time to friends and family in the place of a physical gift, much like volunteers need to pledge their time, rather than their money.
“By promising to give your time instead of buying a present, why not volunteer to help someone with their shopping, mow the lawn, walk the dog or even cook a loved one breakfast in bed. We’ll give you a personalised Time Token which can be gift wrapped, and ready to pop under the tree for friends or family.” http://www.vliverpool.org.uk/node/143
For Festive Favours, the YAT North East set up a stall right next to Romford Market on the afternoon of Saturday 19th December. We had purple decorations, badges and tattoos to hand out and of course, the V sign-up sheets.
After setting up we gave out ‘Time Tokens’ to passersby around our local shopping centre. Teenage boys in particular liked the idea of a free Christmas present, and we got the opportunity to speak to them all briefly about volunteering. We encouraged them to go and visit the stall and gave them stickers for their time!
It was an exciting event that was a success in that people were really enthusiastic about it and it really did spread the word of volunteering.
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Why We Volunteer
Recently, everyone on the team took some time to write up our own, personal reasons for volunteering. Here they are (they're all anonymous!):
1) Began volunteering for the sole purpose to do something more productive with my time. But now as time has progressed; I want to give back to the community. In addition, I wanted to meet new people and have fun.
2) I have been with the YAT for a number of months now and find that it is one of the most positive things that I have done. The YAT consists of 15 members who have their own individuality which they bring to the group. I also thought it would be a great aspect for me to put on to my CV and it is. Furthermore, volunteering has allowed me to make new friends, be open to new and unique ideas and also form and run my own projects. I personally think that everyone who goes into volunteering is doing something special and rewarding in contrast to working a 9-5 job :)
3) My reasons for volunteering are very different from the reasons as to why I continue to volunteer today. Initially, I was curious and considered it an opportunity for me to utilise my existing skills to carry out a project of my own choice. In the first meeting I attended, all the talk about ‘benefiting our community’, immediately altered my intention and I started seeing the bigger picture. One major aspect of that picture was working in a team. My reasons for still volunteering today, is to change other peoples perception of that dreaded ‘V’ word. Often associated with working in local charity shops or holding money collection buckets in the rain, it is so much more than that. There is no limit as to the amount of skills you obtain, regardless of how many you had in the first place; I guess you can only get better. In the space of 18 months, so many different and exciting opportunities had and have been made available to me, which has not only considered me an employable individual but one that sees being a volunteer to be a much more respectable occupation.
4) One of the main reasons for volunteering is to give something back to the community. Volunteering plays a vital aspect in my life, and for me, nothing makes me more proud than to assist and help people or to get people to help others. Volunteering gives me satisfaction that I am striving to make someone’s life better or to provide help despite not being paid. Volunteering for me is not an effort as it comes naturally. I do it because I enjoy it and not because I have to. The emphasis of delivering change and difference is always a reason why I volunteer for the YAT.
5) Volunteering provided an opportunity for me to contribute to a visibly broken community. The problems facing the working class in East London especially are ever-present and so volunteering through the YAT provided a means of alleviating some of the community’s hardships.
6) Before I joined YAT, I used to avoid any opportunity I was given to volunteer purely because I was lazy, however, this view changed when I became a YAT member. Before even getting involved physically in any events, sitting through the discussions talking about who we are and what we are trying to do opened my eyes up. I realised that everything I was to do was going to be towards making the community better; this drew me in all the more. Organisations such as YAT not only give youths something to do and get involved in, but also help change the stereo-type thoughts about youngsters. If I knew that I contributed just a little to this change of perspective, then I’d be more than satisfied; not only are the events fun to organise but the communities can become safer and more welcoming.
There have been times when people ask me what the YAT is and what they do, this gives me an opportunity to tell than a little of what I get out of being part of this team and some of the things we do. Just telling people from my personal experience makes them either proud of what I do or interested in getting involved; either way it makes me feel proud and happy inside which, for me, is the most important thing as the end of the day.
7) My reasons for volunteering were so that I can meet new people and it’s also something that would keep me busy, learn new skills and improve my confidence.
8) I started out using volunteering as an opportunity to meet new people and make new friends, and those opportunities still present themselves frequently. However, now I’m finding that I can really get passionate about an idea and want to turn it into something that can benefit others. Also, volunteering as part of a group allows me to play to my strengths and to develop them through taking responsibility for particular aspects of a project or of the team as a whole, which provides me with good preparation for positions of responsibility at work and in later life.
9) Why I volunteer: to help change the face of the youth, negative image of youth in the media and finally help contribute to showing the positive side to youth.
10) Reasons for joining the YAT: Productive uses of time, to learn new skills, interact with new people from various backgrounds and finally prepare for my future of possibly working with young people.
11) Why I volunteer: Self-improvement, get to work on interesting projects, make friends and meet new people, have a tangible effect on community.
1) Began volunteering for the sole purpose to do something more productive with my time. But now as time has progressed; I want to give back to the community. In addition, I wanted to meet new people and have fun.
2) I have been with the YAT for a number of months now and find that it is one of the most positive things that I have done. The YAT consists of 15 members who have their own individuality which they bring to the group. I also thought it would be a great aspect for me to put on to my CV and it is. Furthermore, volunteering has allowed me to make new friends, be open to new and unique ideas and also form and run my own projects. I personally think that everyone who goes into volunteering is doing something special and rewarding in contrast to working a 9-5 job :)
3) My reasons for volunteering are very different from the reasons as to why I continue to volunteer today. Initially, I was curious and considered it an opportunity for me to utilise my existing skills to carry out a project of my own choice. In the first meeting I attended, all the talk about ‘benefiting our community’, immediately altered my intention and I started seeing the bigger picture. One major aspect of that picture was working in a team. My reasons for still volunteering today, is to change other peoples perception of that dreaded ‘V’ word. Often associated with working in local charity shops or holding money collection buckets in the rain, it is so much more than that. There is no limit as to the amount of skills you obtain, regardless of how many you had in the first place; I guess you can only get better. In the space of 18 months, so many different and exciting opportunities had and have been made available to me, which has not only considered me an employable individual but one that sees being a volunteer to be a much more respectable occupation.
4) One of the main reasons for volunteering is to give something back to the community. Volunteering plays a vital aspect in my life, and for me, nothing makes me more proud than to assist and help people or to get people to help others. Volunteering gives me satisfaction that I am striving to make someone’s life better or to provide help despite not being paid. Volunteering for me is not an effort as it comes naturally. I do it because I enjoy it and not because I have to. The emphasis of delivering change and difference is always a reason why I volunteer for the YAT.
5) Volunteering provided an opportunity for me to contribute to a visibly broken community. The problems facing the working class in East London especially are ever-present and so volunteering through the YAT provided a means of alleviating some of the community’s hardships.
6) Before I joined YAT, I used to avoid any opportunity I was given to volunteer purely because I was lazy, however, this view changed when I became a YAT member. Before even getting involved physically in any events, sitting through the discussions talking about who we are and what we are trying to do opened my eyes up. I realised that everything I was to do was going to be towards making the community better; this drew me in all the more. Organisations such as YAT not only give youths something to do and get involved in, but also help change the stereo-type thoughts about youngsters. If I knew that I contributed just a little to this change of perspective, then I’d be more than satisfied; not only are the events fun to organise but the communities can become safer and more welcoming.
There have been times when people ask me what the YAT is and what they do, this gives me an opportunity to tell than a little of what I get out of being part of this team and some of the things we do. Just telling people from my personal experience makes them either proud of what I do or interested in getting involved; either way it makes me feel proud and happy inside which, for me, is the most important thing as the end of the day.
7) My reasons for volunteering were so that I can meet new people and it’s also something that would keep me busy, learn new skills and improve my confidence.
8) I started out using volunteering as an opportunity to meet new people and make new friends, and those opportunities still present themselves frequently. However, now I’m finding that I can really get passionate about an idea and want to turn it into something that can benefit others. Also, volunteering as part of a group allows me to play to my strengths and to develop them through taking responsibility for particular aspects of a project or of the team as a whole, which provides me with good preparation for positions of responsibility at work and in later life.
9) Why I volunteer: to help change the face of the youth, negative image of youth in the media and finally help contribute to showing the positive side to youth.
10) Reasons for joining the YAT: Productive uses of time, to learn new skills, interact with new people from various backgrounds and finally prepare for my future of possibly working with young people.
11) Why I volunteer: Self-improvement, get to work on interesting projects, make friends and meet new people, have a tangible effect on community.
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