Author archive
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By vMarita 26th July 12
For those of us who find ourselves with a limited amount of time to give, micro-volunteering can be a great way of giving something back.
Mainly based online, micro-volunteering can involve anything from one-off actions that take a few seconds, to giving a a few hours over an extended period of time.
Doing good is just a click away! Here are our current top 5 micro-volunteering opportunities….
Best micro volunteering opportunities
The reputation of British youth needs fixing. Do Something UK is calling on all young people to get behind their movement for more positive images of UK youth to reverse the negativity of last year’s riots. Upload your picture and win exclusive prizes along the way!
2. Help launch a website with Plotr
Plotr is a new careers site set to launch in late 2012. Sign up to be part of the Plotr Online Panel and complete monthly mini-missions, in return for some amazing rewards from their partners, including Wililams Formula 1, Starbucks and Universal Music. Sound good? Find out more and apply.
3. Snap yourself in your PJs with Help from Home
Help From Home is run as a free community service to promote and encourage participation in easy microvolunteering opportunities where a spare 10 seconds to 30 minutes is all that is needed to help out worthy causes. You don’t even need to get out of your favourite armchair or pyjamas to participate in this opportunity.
4. Proof read e books with Distributed Proofreaders
Distributed Proofreaders provides a web-based method to ease the conversion of physical Public Domain books into e-books. By dividing the workload into individual pages, many volunteers can work on a book at the same time, which significantly speeds up the creation process. Find out more.
5. Donate to charity by listening to music with Fan Donation
Fan Donation is a click to donate site. By clicking a donate button, a free donation is paid for by a sponsor at no cost to you. In this case the sponsors are the bands, whose music you will hear when you click the donate button. The monies are donated to a teen suicide prevention scheme in various places aroud the world. Find out more.
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By vMarita 25th May 12
We’re excited to announce that the winner of our MoS DJ Academy course competition is Koko Owusu!
On top of that, our friends at fairsharemusic.com have compiled a vInspired Volunteers DJ Mix of our top-ten favourite selections – available to download now!
The winner
Koko Owusu
Koko’s 18 years old and lives in London. She’ll be coming along to the Ministry of Sound DJ Academy on 31 August to learn skills and tips from some top-notch Ministry of Sound DJs. Well done Koko!
Here’s her winning comment:
Probably not reaaaally MoS style but NONETHELESS it would have to be
Sun Is Shining by Bob Marley (and do a mashup with either Jamie XX – Beat For/Far Nearer or could simply be the Bob Sinclair remix).
The song is ALL about sharing positivity, enjoying ourselves and living and loving life to the fullest no matter what. I think young volunteers would appreciate the message and most importantly love rocking out to this tune!
Why it was a winner…
We loved the song she chose to dedicate to young volunteers but more importantly, we loved the reasoning behind her song choice.
We too believed that young volunteers would appreciate the message of positivity behind this Bob Marley hit – and most importantly love rocking out to it!
Ministry of Sound DJ academy were particularly impressed with her mash up/remix idea for Sun Is Shining!
The Playlist
We teamed up with MoS DJ Academy to pick our top ten tracks from all the entries and complied a playlist for you all to download from our friends at fairsharemusic for £8.99 - with 50% of all profits donated back to vInspired to help us continue our work with young people.
Plus, everyone who entered the competition gets special discount- check your inboxes if you entered for your discount code!
Thanks to everyone who entered the competition and helped create the playlist. Enjoy!
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By vMarita 8th May 12
Update: The deadline for entries for the prize draw has now passed. Thanks to everyone who submitted their awesome ideas!
Calling all budding DJs!
Our friends at Ministry of Sound DJ Academy are offering one lucky volunteer the chance to attend their one day Introduction to DJing course (worth £250) on Friday 25th May 2012!
The winner will be trained at legendary London super club Ministry of Sound by some of the biggest DJs in the business; with full behind the scenes access to all four of the clubs’ DJ booths throughout the day.
The course is specifically designed for beginner and intermediate DJs and covers everything from basic techniques to advanced DJ skills.
You’ll get expert advice from legendary DJ’s in dance music history, a goody bag with CDs, VIP passes to the club and a certificate.
Plus you’ll get the chance to submit a mix to the DJ Academy team for the chance to be selected to play at one of our exclusive new talent events at the club!
Sam Barlow, DJ Academy Manager, explains why they’re running the competition:
‘Here at Ministry of Sound DJ Academy we have two main focuses: number one, educating the next generation of future DJs, and number two, discovering this generation’s new and upcoming talent.
“We’ve put together this really special competition to give young people who deserve it most, the opportunity to get behind the decks and spin their favourite tracks on THE BEST night club sound system on the planet!’
To be in with a chance to win this EPIC prize, just answer the following question by posting a comment on this blog post:
You’re DJing at Ministry of Sound and are asked to dedicate a song to all the young volunteers in the crowd – what song would you dedicate to them and why?
The closing date for entries is Tuesday 15 May. Our judging panel will select the most inspiring answer and the winner will be announced here next week. Get your DJ thinking caps on!
To enter you must be:
• Over 15 years of age – under 18s please see Competition terms and conditions
• Be registered on vInspired.com and have at least 4 hours logged on your vInspired volunteering profilePlease be sure to read our full terms & conditions before entering
For details on the course, please visit the Ministry of Sound DJ Academy website: http://www.ministryofsound.com/club/dj-academy/courses/
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By vMarita 7th December 11
Photo credit: schnaars on flickr
With unemployment amongst young people reaching 1 million last month, the government and the third sector are scratching their heads trying to think of ways to save this ‘lost generation’.
Introducing training to all NEETs and more apprenticeships for the jobless are just a couple of the ideas being bandied about. But as with all things in today’s society, the real issue, and indeed the missing link, is money. It’s all well and good to have ideas but who’s going to pay for them?
The common answer, it seems, is the over 60s.
Fuel our Youth is a new charity set up by three affluent over 60s. They suggest that the ‘very well off’ people of their generation donate their winter fuel allowance (WFA) to youth projects.
The suggestion that the older generation give their WFA to young people hasn’t gone down well with everyone. On Gransnet, an online forum for grandparents, glassortwo, summed up the feelings of some of his peers:
‘ I am spitting feathers here on behalf of all the people who receive Winter Fuel Allowance being asked from a charity to donate their allowance to the young unemployed!…When are the big fat bankers going to be asked to donate some of their big fat bonus to the young unemployed?’ glassortwo
It has also been suggested that older people in large houses should sell up and give their homes to the young so they have enough space to raise their families.
Does glassortwo have a point? Are we asking too much of the older generation and not enough of anyone else?
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By vMarita 11th November 11
Here at vinspired HQ we want to make volunteering accessible to as many people as possible, making more people’s skills freely available to local charities and community organisations. What better way than to take the tried and tested website that is vinspired.com and develop it into an employee volunteering platform.
We’re thrilled to report that we’ve done it, and are launching a pilot project with one corporate partner that wants to encourage their employees to get volunteering! Charities and local community groups such as yours will benefit from a wider pool of volunteers, and the employees volunteering will gain valuable skills in a new setting.
We are testing the water with this pro-bono pilot and have chosen some relevant opportunities from vinspired.com to share with our corporate partner, especially opportunities that are open to more than just one volunteer. (Of course some of the volunteering opportunities posted on vinspired.com are specifically aimed at young people and wouldn’t be suitable for corporate employees so we won’t include those.)
If you do not want to include your opportunities in our employee volunteering pilot please email VolunteeringWorks@vinspired.com with Opt-out in the subject line.
If you are interested in posting new opportunities in our employee volunteering pilot firstly post them as usual through your vinspired admin panel (remembering to change the age range up to 100!) then email VolunteeringWorks@vinspired.com with New opportunity in the subject line and include details of the opportunity in the body of the email so we can include it in our employee volunteering pilot. Simple!
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By vMarita 7th October 11
Due to popular demand we have now extended our age remit to include 14 and 15 year olds.
In the past, organisations weren’t able to issue volunteers under 16 with vawards and these young volunteers couldn’t sign up to vinspired.com either.
As of October 12th 2011, that all changes! 14 and 15 year olds will be able to sign up to vinspired.com, apply for vawards and apply for opportunities directly via our website in the same way that their older counterparts have always be able to do.
This is great news for younger volunteers and gives them the chance to get recognition for all their volunteering.
In line with the launch, there will be some minor changes to the site.
The drop-downs on your opportunity pages will change, allowing you to broaden your specified age range to include volunteers aged between14 and 25 rather than just volunteers aged 16-25 years old.
If you have volunteering roles that you’d like to offer to 14 and 15 year olds, simply edit your opportunity page by changing the drop-downs in ‘opportunity details’:
To open these opportunities to our new age group, it is essential that you change your drop-downs, otherwise these younger volunteers won’t be able to apply.
If the dropdowns are not changed, 14 and 15 year olds won’t be given the option to apply for the opportunity
Volunteers will see the ‘I’d like to do this’ button if the opportunity is for their age group-enabling them to apply.
Please look through any existing opportunities you have posted on your organisation page to see if there are any that you’d like to change. Maybe you have some roles that would be suitable for younger volunteers!Equally, when posting new opportunities please be aware that 14 – 25 is the new default for the drop-down boxes. If you have opportunities you don’t wish to offer to 14 and 15 year olds, you must change the drop downs accordingly.
It’s also worth remembering that our new age range of volunteers will be in full time education. Please bear this in mind when you are posting opportunities, making sure any full time volunteering roles open to them coincide with half terms and school holidays.
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Remember, if you need any help with the site or have any general queries about v, you can email us on info@vinspired.com
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By vMarita 14th September 11
Over the August bank holiday weekend (28th and 29th) vinspired.com teamed up with Bigga Fish to host a Block Party at the Notting Hill Carnival. We spoke to v volunteer, Camille Simpson, 19, about her experiences from the weekend.
“As soon as I saw this opportunity posted on the vinspired website, I jumped at the chance. I love Bigga Fish events and wanted to do some event volunteering to boost my CV, so applying to take part was a no brainier! Two of my friends signed up too so that we could all do it together.
We turned up at Hazelwood Crescent at 10am on Sunday morning to start our day of volunteering.
The staff there were really friendly; Lorna from vinspired.com and Natalie from Bigga Fish briefed us on what we would be doing throughout the day. They told us that the main aim of the block party was to celebrate all that was good about youth culture and, in light of the August riots, show that young people can be positive.
The first task of the day was to help get the ‘block’ looking party ready! We put up posters around the stage and set up a chill out area with beanbags and deck chairs.
We were then given our v t-shirts, some block party invites and our block party passes. Armed with a bag full of goodies, we set off to preform random acts of kindness.
Volunteers doing 'random acts of kindness'
I thought this would be the hardest part of the day – pounding the streets of Notting Hill and giving out free stuff – but carnival is all about good vibes and people were really friendly and appreciative.
Mostly people were really intrigued by what we were doing but it was mainly the younger people (16-25s) who said they’d come along to the block party. Everyone was so grateful for the tissues and hand sanitizers we gave out and they loved the whistles, glow sticks and badges too.
When we got back to the block, there were loads of people there! The DJs absolutely smashed it and played all the right tunes to get the crowd going. There was such a good vibe!
Our next task was to get the crowd to contribute to the ‘Wall of positivity’. This was a giant v with blank post it notes on it, so we went around the crowd and asked them to write something positive on a post it and stick it on the wall.
Wall of Positivity
There were some really good comments on there that showed just how positive young people can be. We spent the rest of our day generally lending a helping hand and dancing till our feet hurt!
On Monday, we didn’t volunteer but decided to go along to the block party anyway. We headed down to Hazelwood Grove and it was absolutely heaving with people. The atmosphere was electric! True to form, the DJs were playing the best in UK urban music sending the crowd into a frenzy.
This was just the warm up because as the DJ finished his set he introduced Ms Dynamite on to the stage. Everyone went crazy; blowing their whistles and jumping up. Talay Riley, Cleo Sol and Kele le Roc also performed. It was so LIVE!
Ms Dynamite on stage at the block party
What a weekend! I never knew volunteering could actually be fun. I’ll definitely be signing up for next year’s block party.”
If your interested in events volunteering click here
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By vMarita 14th September 11
Written By Craig Priestley
Hi and welcome to the first blog from the new Youth Advisory board for 2011, now known as v12. My name is Craig and I thought I’d just do a quick blog to explain who we all are and what happened on our first residential.
- Starting on back row left to right is Matt, Joseph, Me (Craig), Chris, Lee and front row Blessing, Tier, Sheon, Flo, Jenny, Alex and Ryan.
On the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of September we all got to know each other, find out about each other’s past and what we are involved in now. It turns out, we’re all very like-minded! Let me put it this way, we all wonder how we fit in sleep as we all believe very passionately in volunteering and young people.
During the weekend we also got to meet lot of the staff at v and looked into the new projects they have going on and those soon to be launched. All I have to say on them is you’re in for great year and so are we! Before I forget, go look at the newest project Team v if your aged 18 and 25, it’s a great opportunity.
Some of us on v12 are not from London and it was really nice that one of our team building tasks was to run around London looking for landmarks whilst taking pictures. It gave us the chance to do the tourist bit whilst working too (always a good way to do it, lol).
Our whole group (v12) are already busy coming up with new ideas for v and getting involved with tasks already up and running. Each and every one of us are so grateful to last year’s v20 team and all the hard work they done and are still doing. Whilst we were at the residential, they came and gave us a handover and tried to put us at ease about all our worries and told us what they’re still helping with and how to get involved.
Well this is me signing off on this post, but I leave you with one of many quotes from the weekend. “We volunteer not to be praised but to share our passion and love for helping.”
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By vMarita 4th August 11
If you have a volunteer that shows great promise then you can now promote them to an organiser.
This means that they can plan events and opportunities as well as recruit volunteers for these opportunities on behalf of your organisation.
In order for a volunteer to be promoted within your organisation, they first need to be following you.
To become a follower, they simply click the follow button on the top left hand corner of your organisations page:
Once the volunteer has become a follower, you can promote them in your vadmin area. Log in to vinspired.com and go to your admin area.
Click on the people tab at the top of the page (5th tab along), this will show you all the people associated with your organisation:
Click on followers to reveal all the volunteers following your organisation:
Identify the volunteer you’d like to promote and click on the actions arrow on the right.
This will reveal a dropdown menu. To promote the volunteer, select promote to organiser:
As an organiser, the young person will now be able to access your vadmin area and post opportunities on your organisations behalf.
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By vMarita 1st August 11
Once a volunteer applies for an opportunity it is not possible to delete it, the opportunity will stay on our system for the purposes of volunteers applying for vawards.
However, closing the opportunity means it will no longer appear on your organisation page and volunteers will no longer be able to apply for it.
To close an opportunity:-
Log in to your vadmin area and go to the opportunities tab (4th tab along):
Identify the opportunity you wish to close
Click on the actions arrow on the right hand side to reveal the drop down menu
Select view activities:
This will take you to the activities.
Identify the activity you wish to close.
Click on the actions arrow on the right hand side to reveal the drop down menu
Select end activity:
*If you have multiple activities related to the opportunity you wish to close, simply repeat this process until all activities are closed.
Your opportunity is now closed and will no longer appear on your organisation page.
Volunteers will no longer be able to apply for it.
These opportunities can be reopened at a later date with updated details if you so wish.
Any questions? Get in touch: organisations[at]vinspired.com
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