Author archive
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By Jemima Jordan 20th October 10
Don’t quote me on this, but it seems that I might actually be becoming a proper little sports groupie! After last week’s blog about all those lovely football commentators supporting Make The Team, this week I’m blogging about cricket!
Last Monday I went off to none other than Lord’s cricket ground for the ECB’s annual volunteer recognition event, the Natwest OSCA’s 2010. Although the glamour might have almost rivalled the actual Oscars (what can I say, I’ll take any excuse to dress up), these OSCA’s were actually about recognising the time, energy and devotion that volunteers give to the game of cricket, OSCAs standing for ‘Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards’.
Without these volunteers, the game and many local clubs would not survive, which is why having some of the most devoted volunteers in the country being congratulated and praised by cricket greats like Mike Gatting, Michael Vaughan, John Agnew, Steve Finn and Matt Prior at Lord’s Cricket Ground, was seriously special.
The key award for v was presented by none other than v‘s CEO, Terry Ryall. She presented the ‘Young Volunteer of the Year’ award, which specifically recognises 16-25 year olds who have devoted their time to the game: The winner was Tom Mills, who has volunteered for Formby Cricket Club for 4 years and has raised over £7000 from club functions, has set up a club website and has managed and coached U13s already! For a full list of nominees and winners, click here.
v Continues to support the ECB through Match Funding the V Cricket scheme, which looks to introduce 16-25 year olds to the game with a range of opportunities.
To find out more, head here, and otherwise check out the phone pics below of me with some of the cricketers. From left to right you’ve got Steve Finn and Michael Vaughan. Steve Finn and Matt Prior are, incidentally off to the Ashes in Oz in two weeks now so keep an eye out and fingers crossed! Come on boys!
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By Jemima Jordan 5th October 10
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Today might seem like any old rainy Tuesday, but let me tell you folks, it’s not! On this day only I’m back for one more little blog to mark the launch of our new campaign, Make the Team!
Make the Team is a project encouraging you and everyone you know between the ages of 16-25 to volunteer in football-related projects. In addition, everyone who volunteers will be in with a chance to win tickets to see Premier League Clubs! We’ve got professionals aplenty on board, from David Seaman to Kieran Gibbs, who all want you to get involved in amazing football-related volunteering projects like these!
The campaign launched on this very day and in order to make uber impact, we have some radio ads, featuring none other than the lovely gents who commentate on Sky Sports! Martin Tyler, Andy Gray and Chris Kamara, who you may know for hilarious moments such as this classic, spent a sunny and energy-filled morning in a London studio in Soho recording the radio ads that you will soon hear on Choice, Galaxy, Capital and XFM and I was lucky enough to be there to witness it!
I can tell you now, they had a lot of banter in the studio and although much of the football chat went over my head (Sorry football fans, I am embarrassingly knowledge-less), they knew their stuff like you wouldn’t believe. They were also upliftingly enthusiastic about volunteering and Make the Team project, with Martin Tyler saying ‘volunteering can give you skills and experience which could help you secure your dream job’ and Chris Kamara saying that ‘Make the Team is one of the best things I’ve heard about for a long time’.
So if you fancy getting involved, in the words of Andy Gray: ‘Sign up with v and be part of something big. If you’re football mad like me there’s hundreds of ways you can get involved.’And if you want to see more from the gents, scroll down for photos and CLICK HERE for a video from Chris Kamara
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By Jemima Jordan 30th September 10
v’s Autumn Marketing Campaigns
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Make the Team
On 5th October v will launch its new marketing campaign, “Make the Team”. The campaign is targeted at young males, and hopes to harness the enthusiasm that most young males have for football and enable them to see that by volunteering in their local community they can become part of a much bigger national volunteering team and have the opportunity to win tickets to see Premier League Clubs.
The advertising uses football as a hook, but you do not need to have football volunteering opportunities to get involved! The campaign is reaching out to all young people, we are just using something many males are interested in to grab their attention.
How the campaign works
The mechanic is simple. All 16-25 year olds have to do is:
- Go to vinspired.com/football and click ‘sign in to do this’
- Register with vinspired.com
- Select your favourite Premier League Club
- Choose a volunteering opportunity – could be one of our football opportunities or something else
- Volunteer
- Upload a photo of yourself volunteering
- Automatically get entered into a prize draw to win tickets to see a Premier League Club
The campaign runs until 31 January 2011, with a full marketing campaign across press, radio, online and outdoor. As well as Premier League’s endorsement, we also have the support of a number of well-known football enthusiasts – including Sky Football commentators Chris Kamara, Martin Taylor and Andy Gray; and footballers Kieran Gibbs, David Seaman and Stuart Pearce.
For more information go to vinspired.com/football after 5th October.
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Bigvbus vexciting student tour!
This Autumn 2010 the bigvbus will be travelling to over a dozen universities and further education colleges across the country, promoting that volunteering can give you the skills and experience you need to get the job that you want – and it’s fun too! As you know, students face one of the hardest employment climates in years and standing out from the crowd is more important than ever.Students will be invited to jump on board and discover how volunteering can help them get ahead through a range of fun activities and talks, ranging from 5 minutes to 1 hour.
Highlights include:
- CV workshops: Students will be able to bring their CV and we’ll identify what skills they are missing and how those skills can be developed by matching them to a volunteering opportunity in their area.
- Guest speakers: These will inspire and entertain, give their personal view on volunteering and how it has had a positive impact on their life.
- Micro volunteering: Students will be able to experience how easy it is to ‘do someone a favour’ and leave knowing they’ve already made a difference and it took less than 5 minutes!
- Showcase of local and national volunteering opportunities: They will be able to view opportunities on our noticeboard and vinspired.com and talk to the team.
- A national prize draw competition: An opportunity to win a once in a lifetime trip for them and a friend to volunteer abroad. Young people will be able to enter, providing they register/have registered on vinspired.com and are aged 18-25. Further details will be available on our website from 28 September.
vexciting will be travelling to Universities and Colleges all over England. to find a full list of dates and locations, click HERE.
How you can get involved
- Encourage young people aged 18-25 to go to vinspired.com and enter our national prize draw competition. More details will be on our website from 28 September.
- If the bigvbus is visiting a location near you, ensure your volunteering opportunities are uploaded to vinspired.com, so that students can easily find them on the website. If you need help with this, please contact: katrin.arlington@vinspired.com
That’s it for now. To see pictures and find out more news about both campagins, go to www.vinspired.com or check out our Facebook page.
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By Jemima Jordan 22nd August 10
Here at ‘V Festival’ in Chelmsford this is my first time volunteering on the bigvbus. Before arrival at the bigvbus I was not exactly sure what the bus was all about or exactly sure what I would be doing as a promotional volunteer. But I soon found out it is a brilliant way for young people to get their skills out there and for them to get noticed. I was welcomed and they had me stuck in and involved in everything that was going on straight away.The first of many impressive performances was a band called ‘Annaca’. They performed in front of the bus under the awning. this is the point at which I worked out the bus and the general atmosphere of it. The audience and the artists are on the same level and both literally a couple of metres from each other. This created a really intimate, relaxed and friendly feel to all the performances. This is something you do not experience on the main stages with a row of body guards and a metal railing inbetween you and the artists.
I spoke to the band ‘Annaca’ after their performance they said
”This is the biggest gig we have played and the bus generated a lot more of an audience that we were expecting.” They seemed over-the-moon to have such an opportunity to get themselves noticed, seeing as they have only been together for about a year.The other acts that followed throughout the day were from a wide range of skills, from Christina and Lucy who were running a workshop teaching people how to make their very own cuddly toys, to Team Kinetic who were showing off their free-running and acrobatic skills.
One act in particular, D.J Jappk, the UK DMC Champion had the crowd so exited they were standing on the chairs and tables to see his amazing scratching and beat juggling act. This combined with the beatboxing of Bass6 sounded awesome.
Throughout the day I have been operating the green screen which is where festival goers can be in their very own music video. This was fun to see people muck around and have a laugh.
Later in the afternoon ‘The Magic Numbers’ performed on the bus, thanks to vinspired Lake of Stars, and got everyone in the mood for a night of amazing music at the Festival. They even got volunteer resident, beatboxer Bass6 to get invovled for a few songs, which doubled the fun.Giving up my time to work on the bus was well worth it, just for the actual experience of being on the bus and seeing all the acts, but with the wristband for the festival thrown in as well it is a very good deal indeed.
Now this blog is finished I’m off to the green screen and to spread the word about the bigvbus before going to catch the Kooks and Kasabian.
See ya later,
Tony
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By Jemima Jordan 19th August 10
Last Thursday was no normal day for the team here at v, oh no! Instead of heading to sunny v HQ to sit at our desks and make waves on Outlook, we made our merry way to Camley Street Nature Park in King’s Cross wearing slacks and hiking boots to do a day of volunteering! After a morning of mulching, weeding and tempering, we had a hearty lunch before painting some lovely quotes on boards to go up around the Community Garden! And just in case you don’t believe that we really did get down to the manual work, check out the pic of my tempering handywork on the right there >> 
If all that wasn’t enough to make the day stand out, the party animals in the group changed into their Thursday night finest to join our lucky competition winners at the vinspired Lake of Stars Fundraiser gig, featuring Tinashe and the Noisettes. Held in the beautiful Union Chapel in Islington, N. London, the gig was put on to raise money for the vinspired Lake of Stars music festival in Malawi, happening this October. Run completely by volunteers, the festival and the fundraiser gigs are an incredible showcase of exactly what volunteers can do when they put their minds to it! And I am absolutely sure anyone at this g
ig would agree that it was an incredible evening…New talent Tinashe blew the crowd away with a selection of smooth tracks from his new album ‘Saved’, before the Noisettes took the night to a whole new level with the sound of Shingai Shoniwa’s voice echoing through the eerie chapel setting. What made the night was not just the amazing raw talent, or the fact that we were all sitting in pews feeling a little overawed by the accoustics and our surroundings, but the fact that the whole night was run by volunteers to raise money for a festival that is making a huge difference in Malawi.
To find out more or to get involved, click here now.
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By Jemima Jordan 8th August 10
Afternoon all. vJemima is here and back from the dead for one more cheeky blog for vinspired, after quite literally a weekend and a half of fun and frolicks at Relentless Boardmasters 2010 with Summer of Give. As we speak, I am sitting on the bigvbus overlooking the beautiful Fistral Beach in Newquay, complete with sexy surfers, bikini-clad ladies and super-talented skaters.
The finals of the Relentless Boardmasters 2010 competitions are happening today, so tensions are running high, but with the sun blazing and the sand seeping into our flip-flops, it’s hard to sens
e.The bus is in the ideal location, quite literally ovelooking the halfpipe, so we’ve seen all the tricks practically over our heads while we work spreading the word about v and volunteering.
Our volunteers have been doing a great job at keeping the buzz going around the bus, with crowd-drawing performers including UK champion football freestyler Andrew Henderson, parkour pros Team Kinetix and Basketball freestyler A2W perfomring on the half pipe every hour. And let’s not forget beatboxers Bass6 and Marv-ill Superlungs, that had the whole crowd literally screaming at their skills. As if this wasn’t enough, we’ve seen workshops from balloon modellers Sam and Dave, some incredible photography from Nathalie and Joe (all the pics on here) and mind-boggling juggling from Alex Ward. We’ve had our resident Dj’s Taz and Nathan nailing the decks with some supersounds, and DJ Switch, DMC World and UK champion poppping in to draw in a few hundred to watch him on the decks. Still to come we have new band, (watch this name), Kill It Kid, (pictures here later) and with th
e sun shining to welcome them, I am predicting a brilliant final day at Relentless Boardmasters 2010.Thanks to all for making Summer of Give in Newquay about as good as it can be. Massive shout out to everyone who came down, and for those who didn’t, check out the pics and vids here, and of course, keep your eye on vinspired.com for more amazing opportunities like this one!
Big smiles to all. x
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By Jemima Jordan 5th August 10
v is at yet another super festival this Summer, but this time it ain’t Indie bands and grassy terrain, it’s baord shorts and half pipes at Relentless Boardmasters 2010. We’re soaking up the sun while showcasing our volunteers’ talents. Check out exactly what it’s like first-hand from volunteer Joe, who has been blogging this afternoon…
“Wow, the second day of the Relentless Boardmasters festival kicks off with the sun, the sand and the vinspired DJ sets. What more could you want!? The bus has so far seen entertainment from beatboxers Bass6 + Marv-ill superlungs, Team Kinetix, basketball freestyle, freestyle football and freeforce breakdancers.
The live acts were amazing infront of you and really interacted with the crowd to make an all around exciting atmosphere. Volounteers Bass6 and Marv-ill from South London (which i can hear right behind me performing and the crowd cheering) showing off their talent of freestyle beatboxing. They told me they love performing in front of people, including the audience and cheering them up.
Performances in front of about 300 people were also held on the half pipe over looking the beach which was quite bizarre but extremely cool. Team Kinetix impressed the crowd with jumps and flips from their freestyle gymnastics, with the guys previously performing at film premiers, fashion awards and K-Swiss adverts, they pulled off an awesome act. The guys thought it was great to be in an extreme sports environment like their sport, with surf, skate and dance acts all around the festival.
Its been a good day so far! Had a wonder around to the shop stalls next to the beach, which sell
things from massive comfy bean bags to design your own vans shoes! Me and volunteer photographer Natalie also went right next to the half pipe which is the size of a house with skaters flying up and down. You can see our photos on Facebook so take a look and check it out!The vibe is really chilled out but exciting with the bass pumping out from the DJs decks. I have never volunteered like this before within a team for an event. It makes you feel important and more ‘in the know’ about what’s going on in the festival. Anyways waiting for the surf competition to kick off, so i might go and watch that or go for a surf myself! Looking forward to more performances and music tomorrow. Don’t forget to look at our pictures on Facebook!”
Joe x
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By Jemima Jordan 13th June 10
So after another great night at the festival, Summer of Give is kicking off for the final day of Isle of Wight. We have got all sorts of performers doing their thing from basketball freestylers to aerobics instructors. Check out our Facebook page for pics. For now though, here is a blog from one of our volunteers, Dan. today he has been chatting to volunteers about their attitudes to volunteering. here’s what he found:Isle of Wight Festival 2010
Dan’s Blog: Sunday 13th June.
It’s the last day with the bigvbus at the Isle of Wight and it’s the last day of the festival. So I thought it was the perfect time to get off the bus and out amongst the festival go-ers to find out their thoughts and opinions about volunteering and about the Summer of Give project. I was unsure about people’s views towards volunteering, but was quickly overwhelmed by the positive attitudes everybody had about doing it.
I expected most people wouldn’t be interested in volunteering and would
think it wasn’t for them. I wasn’t alone in thinking that. Most people I spoke with thought volunteering was unpopular, despite being interested in it themselves.Ellie, from Newport, told me she’d like to volunteer with kids to gain work experience, but said most people can’t be bothered and think ‘why give up your time for nothing’. Another previous volunteer said “Some people think you don’t get anything out of it, but I like it.”
However, as I went round and spoke to more and more people I found that almost everyone was interested, and either had volunteered before, or would like to in the future. I spoke to some Oxfam volunteers who said they’d had the same experience. They were going round the festival trying to get people to sign up for their newsletter, but found lots of people interested in volunteering itself and asking ‘how do you get into it?’
One volunteer, Lucy, told me she volunteers in the Oxfam shop at home in Brighton, and for Oxfam at festivals. She’s taking full advantage of the benefits of volunteering at festivals, the Isle of Wight being the first of many festivals she’s getting free entry for this summer. She said if you have the spare time, then why not volunteer – “It’s fun, it makes you feel good, and it looks great on the CV.
Young people were especially interested when we spoke to them about v, the Summer of Give, and the opportunity to volunteer doing some they’re passionate about. v is unique because everybody volunteering for them, including at the Isle of Wight, is doing something they’re passionate about and they chose to do, making volunteering not just enjoyable, but also valuable. A festival-goer I spoke with said she’s interested in photography as a career and would love to volunteer for v, not just for the experience, but also to benefit a future Uni application.It’s v‘s mission over the summer to make volunteering something unmissable, something that everyone wants to do. Certainly from my experience volunteering for v at the Isle of Wight, it’s something everybody should try.
Dan xx
To apply for Summer of Give, head to the website.
For more pictures and updates from the Summer of Give project, go to the Facebook page.
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By Jemima Jordan 12th June 10
Hey guys! So here we are still at the Isle of Wight festival 2010 for Summer of Give! We had an awesome day of volunteering madness on the bigvbus yesterday, and we all headed off to see Florence and the Machine and Jay Z, but today’s a new day, and with a new day, comes a new load of volunteers and a new blog! Woop woop! Today we have got Dan telling us his impressions of volunteering after spending 2 days with the Summer of Give team.Isle of Wight Festival 2010.
Dan’s blog. Saturday 12th June.
I was originally roped into volunteering for v by my friend, and in all honesty was apprehensive. I had all sorts of expectations and preconceptions about volunteering, that were immediately extinguished the moment I arrived. It doesn’t have to involve anything you’re uncomfortable with, or breaking your back picking up litter. Volunteering can be interesting, it can be completely personable and suited to each individuals skills and interests, and most importantly, it can be surprisingly rewarding!
Personally, my passion is writing and I’m lucky to have been given the chance to volunteer and write about vinspired. But the wide range of skills on show prove how inspiring and involving it can be. From Sam and
Sam performing their unique acoustic versions of S-Club’s ‘Don’t Stop Moving’ and George Harrison’s ‘Here Comes the Sun’ to the vinspired Climate Squad, helping raise awareness about climate change by encouraging festival-goers to power light bulbs, laptops and mobile phones by cycling their specially adapted exercise bike. Their aim is to recruit 16-25 year old volunteers and train them up to run carbon-cutting projects in their own communities.On the other side of the bus The Physics Busters Claire and Fliss were amazing everyone, particularly the ever enthusiastic Theone with the physics of non-Newtonian fluids, or, the custard trick to laymen!
The star of the day was the enigmatic beat boxer Bass6. Performing in front of the bigvbus he amazed crowds with his versions of hits such as Benny Benassi’s ‘Satisfaction’ before he and Theon, a DJ, got the crowd going with ‘No Woman No Cry’.
Joined by Skinny Lister, an acoustic folk band from Greenwich. They attracted a crowd with their performance, culminating in a rousing sing-a-long rendition of iconic folk song ‘South Australia’. I spoke to Lorna, vocalist and Ukulele player for the band. She said they wanted to come and perform at the bigvbus after seeing it at a previous event, and, having volunteered herself in the past, she understands “how inspiring it can be.”
I spoke to v20 member Chris, who has been with v since it b
egan back in 2006. He told me he started volunteering as a way of gaining work experience while at university, and didn’t imagine he’d still be doing it 5 years later! In his own words, after he’d joined v he didn’t want to leave; “because it’s so rewarding”.It’s only June and it’s only the beginning of the Summer of Give. Have a look at the upcoming opporunities and get involved. Head to www.vinspired.com.
Dan x
To apply for Summer of Give, head to the website.
For more pictures and updates from the Summer of Give project, go to the Facebook page.
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By Jemima Jordan 11th June 10
So for those of you that think today is just about the start of The World Cup, I am afraid to tell you that you are sorely mistaken! Today is also the very day that we kick off official day one of Summer of Give, where we go to five festivals across England, and showcase young volunteers’ skills. This weekend we are at Isle of Wight Festival, and we have got some lovely cameo bloggers who will be letting you know how we get on!Our first fantastic festival blog comes courtesy of Claire and Fliss! Don’t forget you can check out more of our crazy antics and photos over at our Facebook fan page.
Claire and Fliss’ festival blog
Friday 11th June – First day of the Isle of Wight festival
After a rainy start and some already aromatic toilets, we make our way to the vinspired bus…
Lisa is an expert in origami and is teaching members of the public how to make animals; we take the
opportunity to make some leopard print and zebra print frogs – and they actually hop. Lisa subscribed to the vinspired website but was ignorant of the Summer of Give project until she was sent an email about it; now she’s here with 67000 festival revelers, a group of cheerleaders, some physics busters (that’s us) and some major superstars! Quite a way to start the summer. Lisa’s first few customers make a dinosaur and a bird – caw caw! As Lisa says, she is proof that “volunteering is not just picking up rubbish.”Meanwhile, outside the bus the cheerleaders are wowing the crowds, performing lifts and throws for the public in their brand new shiny vinspired uniforms. After an easy Backwards Pitch, Amy is launched into a Twist-cradle, and a cheer erupts from the surrounding crowd.
Accosting members of the public, the cheerleaders grab a festival birthday boy and before he knows what is happening, he’s thrown into the air and purple and silver pom-poms are thrust into his hands. Afterwards he says that he’s “Never felt so scared in my life,” but the huge grin across his face would imply that he secretly enjoyed it.
Whilst the cheerleaders take a well earnt break, Charlotte the football freestyler takes over; that girl has got skills – the ball seems to be magnetically attracted to her feet. “I always played football when I was younger,” she says, “I played in midfield and I always liked the technical stuff…my agency got me the gig here at the Isle of Wight festival.” As for her opinion of vinspired? “It’s good because people can see that it’s fun to volunteer.”
Emma and Lucy are beavering away making Critters. They found out about vinspired’s Summer of Give through an advertisement in a creative magazine, and being creative types, they jumped at the opportunity to share their passion: “I expected the festival to be fun, and to interact with the public” says Emma, “it’s good to make people more aware of vinspired.”
The Cheerleaders are at it again, manic grins on their faces and impossible high kicks performed. Having been picked up and thrown about, one festival goer said that he loved the experience: “its a great thing you’re doing here” he spluttered when he returned to the ground “
…and the cheerleaders are great!”A quick wander round the festival site gets us all excited for the performances tonight – Jay Z is headlining and the roadies are testing out the equipment – not a bad place to be considering our ticket was provided by vinspired for our efforts. Tomorrow the physics busting begins!
Fliss and Claire xxx
To apply for Summer of Give, head to the website.
For more pictures and updates from the Summer of Give project, go to the Facebook page.
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