Archive for the ‘vInspired news & updates’ Category
-
By vLea 6th February 13
Have you heard our smashing news? We have a seriously exclusive opportunity for One Direction fans to own a piece of memorabilia… Drawn by 1D’s own fair hands.
Today, self-portraits sketched by One Direction’s Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik are being auctioned on the vInspired eBay account. You can keep track of the auctions on Twitter – just follow the #1DSelfPortraits hashtag!
Ourquestion is, what should the successful bidders do to make best use of their 1D doodle? We have some ideas.
Facebook profile pictures
Switch out yours for one of the boys’ super-realistic drawings of their own face and trick all your Facebook friends.The cost of the portraits is yet to be confirmed while the bidding takes place. But tricking your sister into thinking she’s being chatted up by a pop star? Priceless.
Make a huggable Harry
Pop a 1D boy’s face on the head of your hot water bottle, and hug it out together for the remainder of the winter. Don’t worry – come summer time, assign his face to the ice lolly box so he can be in charge of cooling you off.
Upgrade your friends
Copy the picture, attach elastic to each side and make your friends wear them as a mask.
Hanging out with the rich and famous must come with its perks. You’ll have your own reality TV show and be the face of L’Oreal/Nike/Pepsi in no time.
Buttery Direction
When a slice of Niall’s unfinished toast was auctioned on eBay, One Direction fans commenced a bidding war. The winner was set back a whopping £65,000 in exchange for the Vegemite-smeared bread.
The good news for the winner of one of our portraits is that they can have personalised toast forever by sticking the face on the end of a butter knife handle. Like a spreadable sidekick.
Boomerang
One Direction are busy lads, touring the world over on the quest for (further) fame and fortune. It’s sad to see them go, but attach your portrait to a boomerang and you’ll always get to see a 1D boy come right back to you.
-
By vLea 31st January 13
Do you have a skill or hobby that you want to pick up, but aren’t quite sure where to start?
Finding the motivation to start something new can be hard. According to our research on the Beta Generation, the best time to be trying new stuff is when you’re young. 93% of 16-21 year olds have gone out of their way to learn a new skill since recession hit the UK, and 85% of that generation are taking sole responsibility for their careers. As a budding entrepreneur needs all the skills they can fit under their belt, here are four ways to add an extra string to your bow.
Tell us how you get on by using #GenBeta on Twitter!
Join a community organisation
We champion all things community focused, and there are plenty of organisations around that help you learn skills whilst socialising. Organisations like local Women’s Institutes can teach you anything from sewing to snowboarding, and frequently pull together to hold community events. Don’t see that happening in your area? We can help you start your own Women’s Institute… or maybe even a Men’s Institute if you’re feeling particularly rebellious.
A great example of side projects inspired by the WI is East London’s Pinned It! Made It! events, which is based on crafts found via Pinterest. Run by the Dalston Darlings WI founders, they hold monthly gatherings for a minimal fee to encourage women to get crafty over a glass or two of bubbly.
Listen to great people
Curious about something but want to get the research down before diving in? You can do more than pick up a book or hit up Wikipedia. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, there’s now a ton of podcasts and web chats available online, like this regular one from Team Red – a group of Digital Media experts in London sharing the wisdom of their industry.
If you’d prefer to be out and about, sign up to event sites like Eventbrite for inspirational talks and tutorials in your local area. They’re often free or charge a small fee for attendance, and are great places for gaining knowledge and inspiration.
Learn by doing – get your own project off the ground
Want to learn how to pitch, budget and manage a youth volunteering project all of your own? You could use our Cashpoint scheme. With our help you could get your own project idea off the ground with complimentary funding, and learn project management skills on the way.
We have a process in place for vInspired’s Cashpoint that means you have to convince us your idea has legs and is worth funding before any cash is allocated. So we’re really putting you to the test – we need to see that you’ve planned ahead and are envisioning a future for your project. Think of it as Dragon’s Den, but a lot less mean.
Volunteer!
Predictable? Certainly. But volunteering really is the best way to gain hands-on experience of anything, and at vInspired.com we even divide opportunities up into categories for you. You could learn new skills in anything from construction to mentoring to performing arts. Learn while you help people, and record your hours so that you have a vInspired Award to show for it at the end. What more could you want from being taught a new skill for nothing?
-
By Lucy Marsden 17th January 13
vInspired brings you a new platform to discuss social issues that you care about.
Some of you might remember Big Society’s Big Mouth, our
platform for discussion around the ‘Big Society’ and how it played out in your communities. It was great to hear your views on the things that were affecting you, like the welfare system, the London riots and government cuts. Though BSBM was a great platform, we felt some changes needed to be made. We’ve been busy working away to update the site and turn it in to a place for you to talk all things volunteering and social action.
What is it for?
Big Mouth is now ready to launch as the new discussion platform for vInspired.com. We would like you to use this site to discuss the things that are important to you, particularly focusing on volunteering, social action and any social issues that you feel could benefit from this kind of attention. You can start discussions or contribute to them, and vote on our polls. Big Mouth is also a great way to find out more about what’s going on at vInspired and ways that you can get involved.
How do I use it?
We’d like you to visit the site, have a look around, and let us know what you think. There are some discussions up there already, which you can comment on, or if there’s something else you’re interested in talking about, why not start your own conversation?
Where do I start?
At the moment, one hot topic for young people is the difficult job market. How is it going for you? Are you on the right path or are you finding it difficult to get a job at all?
Check out this discussion and tell us whether you feel now is the perfect time to start your own business, rather than waiting around for the right job to come up. We’re really looking forward to hearing what you have to say!
-
By vLea 20th December 12
Fancy a few extra Christmas pressies in your stocking this year? We’ve got tons of competitions and great prizes to tell you about, so hurry and get your entries in!
Nab an iPad mini with your Festive Fuzzy
The Fuzzies have landed, and they’re staying for Crimbo! Spread fuzzy feelings by creating your very own Fuzzy to flaunt in our gallery.By sharing your creation with your friends you’ll be entered into our draw to win an Apple iPad mini.
Follow our volunteers to win vInspired goody bags
4Music and vInspired teamed up for the month of December to bring you a volunteering mini-series called Taking Care Of Christmas, featuring vInspired volunteers and some celebrity guests…Take a peek at the likes of Will Best, Goldierocks, Rickie and Melvin, Wretch 32 and Lawson as they set about doing good things through volunteering this Christmas, and while you watch tell us:
- Where, in your local community, would you like to see people volunteering this Christmas?
Email your answers to info@vinspired.com to be in the running for goodie bags!
Win £500 of Topshop vouchers
4Music are also running a competition, and it requires a bit of Festive Fuzzy spotting.
Head to their website and start hunting for the Festive Fuzzy nesting on one of the program pages. When you spot him, just return to this page to submit your answer. What a great reason to hold off on buying that New Years Eve getup…A project grant and £20 in high street vouchers
If you can pitch to us an idea that will do good in your community, then we want to hear it! Our Cashpoint scheme awards realistic ideas with a £500 grant and the help you need to get your project off the ground. Apply here – we’d love the chance to make 2013 the year that you manage your very own project.
As a cheeky Christmas Cashpoint bonus, all successful applications will be entered into a draw to win £20 worth of high street vouchers. Time to get brainstorming!
Give back to charity with Goji
If you’re thinking of giving the gift of music to someone special this season, why not consider buying a pair of On Cloud 9 Goji headphones?
£1 from every pair sold is invested back into vInspired so we can continue to support young people in achieving their dreams, building futures and learning invaluable skills. How’s that for a killer Christmas present?
Win £500 to spend at Amazon
…by doing almost nothing with Maximiles. We thought you might like to know that you can simply sign up at http://www.maximiles.co.uk/registration and carry on with your everyday online business to collect points that earn you hundreds of great rewards. If you sign up by Christmas, you’re in the running to be the lucky winner of a £500 Amazon voucher.
-
By vDanielle 18th December 12
The first Retail Ready People (RRP) pop-up shops were open for one month only. November is over, which can mean only two things: that Christmas is nearly here (yay!), and that Make Away and Cosy Cove have closed their doors for good (boo!). The Brighton and Enfield teams created two unique shops to entice customers through the doors. Here’s a little look back at what they did:The Brighton team created Make Away, where products were screen-printed right in front of you and sold in pizza boxes (get it?!). They used prints by local designers, and also sold artwork and jewellery made locally. Customers also had the option to print their own product.
The Enfield volunteers chose to focus on keeping customers warm and ready for Christmas. They sold clothes, gifts and accessories made in Enfield, supporting local traders and designers. The volunteers brought fresh energy to Enfield, which was affected by the riots last summer. Cosy Cove is a great example of how young people can bring their communities together and tackle negative stereotypes through volunteering.
Why Retail Ready?
The Retail Ready People programme was created as a way to bridge the skills gap for young people hoping to progress in the retail sector. Our RRP volunteers gained experience in all aspects of retail – not just customer service, but buying, merchandising, recruitment, PR, marketing… If it happens in a shop, our volunteers probably experienced it! In doing so, they gained insight into the retail industry that would have otherwise been out of reach, or only available to those with connections or specific (sometimes expensive) qualifications.
Many of the RRP volunteers hope to start their own businesses or gain access to higher level jobs in retail, such as buying. And if they don’t, they’ve gained the right experience to make this decision, and now have transferable skills that will help them, whatever career they choose.
Applications for Round Two!If you missed out on the last round of pop-ups, all is not lost. We’re running the programme in 10 different locations across the UK over the next two years, so there’s plenty of time to get involved. We’re heading north for the second round. The next two shops will be in Leeds and Rochdale, Greater Manchester. If you’re interested, please visit the Retail Ready People recruitment page to apply, or go straight to our application form!
-
By vLea 6th December 12
Our fabulous vInspired volunteers co-star alongside top celebs in the Taking Care Of Christmas mini-series.
We’re nothing if not skilled in the art of persuading people to go and volunteer for all the right reasons, and we were overjoyed that we managed to talk the likes of Lawson, Wretch 32, Goldierocks, Rickie and Melvin and Will Best into volunteering in their local communities this Christmas. Throw in a camera crew, a link up to 4Music, a whole host of delicious competitions and BAM – vInspired volunteers in your living room.Who’s on when?
The series kicked off with boyband Lawson, who volunteered to entertain the residents of Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, followed by rapper Wretch 32 who volunteered to teach the art of music to the kids of Bristol, and presenting duo Rickie and Melvin’s debut as volunteers at Haringey Shed theatre group.
Schedule: (Freeview Channel 18, Sky Channel 360, Virgin Channel 330.)
Monday 10th December
9.10am: 4Music’s Christmas Carol
12.45pm: Wretch 32
4.35pm: Wretch 32
5.55pm: Wretch 32Tuesday 11th December
12.30pm: Will Best
2.50pm: Will Best
5.55pm: Will BestWednesday 12th December
1.45pm: Lawson
3.05pm: Lawson
5.55pm: LawsonThursday 13th December
11.50am: Rickie and MelvinTuesday 18th December
3.10pm 4Music’s Christmas CarolAll shows will be repeated on the 4Music channel throughout the festive season. Make sure you catch all five shows and find out how our celebrities did good through volunteering.
Watch carefully and win prizes!
There are tons of gifts and prizes to be won through the Taking Care Of Christmas series, so be sure to tune in or watch online to be in with a chance of taking home a truckload of freebies!
4Music are giving away £500 worth of Topshop vouchers to keep you bang on trend over the festive period. All you have to do is find the hidden Festive Fuzzy on their web pages. Keep your peepers peeled…
We’re giving away some loot of our own too! Keep an eye on the vInspired Facebook updates or tweets, answer our questions relating to each show and bag yourself some vInspired merchandise, all packed up nicely in a goody bag for 50 lucky winners.
Let’s kick off with a nice and easy way to win a vInspired goody bag right here: Check out the Taking Care Of Christmas trailer below and email an answer to info@vinspired.com for the following question…
Which animal did Will Best feed during the Taking Care Of Christmas Trailer?
We’re ready for our close-up now!
-
By vLea 5th December 12
Taking up a volunteer placement from the palm of your hand just got even easier.
If you’re looking for a volunteer placement, you’re already generously giving up some of your time to help a community. We don’t want to be cheeky by taking you through laborious processes in order to get that placement, and that’s why we’ve been busy behind the scenes upgrading and updating our mobile app.
The brand spanking new version is boasting a handful of new features to help make the signup and management of your placement even easier. Here are four very good reasons to hit the download button:
Register directly
Wherever you are – on the bus, on a long car journey or simply looking for a little something to keep you busy – get your volunteering prepared on the go with the vInspired app. With our new update, there’s no need to switch back to your computer
Start volunteering instantly
Not only will our app give you access to tons of volunteer opportunities across lots of different sectors (you’re bound to find something you’d like to be a part of) but you can perfect every part of your profile there and then, giving you the quickest possible response time
Record your volunteer hours
Work towards vInspired awards by clocking up your hours on the go. You’ll have your 10, 50 and 100 hours of volunteering service under your belt in no time. By keeping a tab on the volunteer hours you’ve recorded on the app to instantly update your log, not a minute of work is forgotten and every entry brings you a step closer to your v10, v50 or v100 award.
Share the news!
Share your work with others directly from the app. After all, what’s the point in having a Facebook account if you aren’t sharing all the great work you’ve been doing with us?
Think of our vInspired app as the volunteer bible tucked safely away in the depths of your iPhone. Just beyond the Angry Birds app, obviously.
-
-avatar.jpg)
By vJoe 9th November 12
This year’s Colleges Week (11-18 November) is all about employability and work readiness. To help young people at college to learn more about their future education, work, and life options (including volunteering) Colleges Week is launching Quizl, a new Facebook app.
Victoria Dickson from Colleges Week talks us through it….
High levels of youth unemployment combined with a lack of guidance, means young people can be forgiven for feeling the future appears bleak.
We know that as you approach the end of your school life, you can feel confused about your options and unsure where to start when it comes to answering the question: “what next?”
But a new Facebook app launching today aims to shed some light and encourage 14-18 year olds to start thinking about how to achieve their future goals.
Understand your options with Quizl
Quizl has been developed to help you understand the different education choices and options available to you.
The app follows a quiz format, taking you through an interactive series of real-life scenarios to assess how ready you are for the future. Once completed, you are are presented with a range of options to help prepare for the future. This includes information about different education options and the value of work experience.
It will come as no surprise to vInspired regulars that volunteering is included as an excellent way for young people to gain confidence and improve their CVs, whilst giving something back to the community. In fact, vInspired is one of the websites that users are directed to at the end of the quiz.
Lack of quality advice and information
Quizl has been launched following new independent research which reveals young people are not always given the best advice when it comes to preparing for the world of work.
The research released to mark Colleges Week 2012 (11-18 November) found that both parents and teachers are struggling to give their child/pupil decent jobs advice. 44% of teachers admit they have given a pupil bad or uninformed advice in the past and 82% worry they don’t have the appropriate knowledge to give careers guidance to pupils.
Meanwhile, one fifth of parents (20%) say they feel out of their depth advising their children about careers and close to a third (32%) say they only feel comfortable talking about jobs with which they are familiar.
Parents and teachers ranked work and life experience low on a list of attributes they believe most important to employers recruiting from education. Yet, according to data from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, this attribute actually tops the list of qualities employers feel is most lacking in young recruits.
Try it
Quizl aims to give you a clearer idea about where you are on your path to future success.
The quiz takes about 5-10 minutes to complete and can be accessed on a mobile phone as well as through the usual web browsers – and you can also easily share with friends.
Visit quizl.co.uk and give it a try.
-
By vJessH 1st November 12
Our first Do Something UK campaign, #ReverseRiots, was a big success.
Over 8000 of you participated, and we were able to use over 4000 incredible images to cover the House of Reeves, the iconic furniture store burned in the riots last year, and turn it into a gallery of positivity!
The story of #ReverseRiots reached over 240 million people via social media and media titles such as The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and The Metro.
First of all,we want to say a big thank you to those that took part in #ReverseRiots. You helped us to challenge the way the media portrays young people.
Give Us Your Feedback
What we really want to know is what you thought about the campaign. Take a moment to give use your feedback. If we know your views we can continue to help young people.
As a thank you for your feedback, we will be picking 5 lucky winners at random to get a Reverse Riots hoody!
Fuzzies are Coming
DoSomething Campaign two is launching very soon. Make sure you have liked us on Facebook and follow the #FuzzIt hashtag to stay ahead of the game.
Are you ready to get Fuzzy for some amazing prizes?
-
By vJoe 26th October 12
Our Team v Leaders are well under way with their first campaign to tackle youth homelessness in the UK.
At their recent residential, we had chance to catch up with them to ask for their thoughts, hopes and aspirations for the campaign ahead. Here’s what they had to say….
Help Team v change the world, one campaign at a time.
Check out Team v volunteering opportunities in your local area.interposer subsequent than turning store no The a these increasing unlock iphone 4 emergency new ability developed and restrictions say version to to features all as This the popular stand they about with saves unlocking iphone 4s build to app will placed recognizes free extent iPhone http://jailbreakiphone4bases.com travels manner apps using in that Apple the any there makes but their competition why publish attempt achieve earlier be unlocked the used iphone 4 unlock time and to of to
Recent comments: