Posts Tagged ‘christmas’
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By Kriya 7th January 10
Happy New Year!! I hope that everyone had a festive period as enjoyable as mine. Not only had I proved I had been a good girl in 2009 by being rewarded generously by Santa (Yes I still believe!), but I also engaged in some volunteering.For a couple of days after Christmas I travelled back to London to volunteer for Crisis Christmas. For those of you who don’t know who Crisis are, they are the national charity for single homeless people.
For the second year running, I volunteered at a confidential centre for vulnerable homeless people, working two shifts (7:45am – 4pm). The two days consisted of cleaning the surrounding streets of the centre of any rubbish, manning the smoking area, signing guests in and out of the building, booking guests appointments to see the doctors, dentists, hairdressers, advisors and masseuses, cleaning toilets, serving refreshments to the guests and so much more. We of course also had the opportunity to talk to and engage with guests throughout the day. Shifts worked in 45 minutes rotation, in theory having, one outside (or cold shift) followed by a more warmer shift etc. Needless to say, at times I got very cold and very wet, but it was all worth it, especially when guests tell you how much they appreciate the work that Crisis do for them and that they are really enjoying their time at the centre.
The whole experience of volunteering for Crisis Christmas from beginning to end has been amazing, from meeting the guests and hearing their stories, to meeting and making friends with other volunteers. One thing that amazed me this year, was how many old faces I recognized from the year before (guests and volunteers), and even more amazingly, that people remembered me! Crisis Christmas is definitely something that I will continue doing and definitely something I would recommend others to do. What a great volunteering activity to end the year with!
Ciao for now!
Kriya xxx
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By Jemima Jordan 17th December 09
Great beard of Zeus, is it really that time of year again? I know I sound like my mother, but seriously, it is mighty worrying that time is flying away. This means I am officially a mere seven months from being outside of the 16-25 year old age-range, which in turn means I will no longer be able to assert my young person’s judgements over what is cool and what is not in the office. Shucks.Anyway, let’s not get bogged down in the fact a year has gone, as there are also lots of fab things that v have achieved over the past 12 months. From handing out over 500 vcashpoint grants, launching vTalent year, opening our very own Gift of Time Store, to celebrating outstanding volunteers with Tinchy and Lady Sov at the vinspired National Awards, we didn’t do half bad in 2009. And so I smoothly and seamlessly lead on to the top five highlights of my year!
1)
The vinspired National AwardsSo excuse the lack of chronological order, but no top 5 highlights of 2009 would be complete without a bit of glamorous awards gossip right at the top. The vinspired National Awards was possibly v’s finest hour, and with one of 2009’s best selling artists, Tinchy Stryder, performing his number 1 hit, called urrr, ‘Number 1’, how can the whole goddam thing not be a highlight?! Congrats once again to all winners and finalists. You rock and it was fab meeting you! PS. Sorry again for my moves.
2)
The bigvbus starts its tour!So we went a bit nuts this year and decided that the only way to take over England with everything v would be to literally drive all over it in a big bus and tell everyone about it! Simples! Not only did we visit our friends at vinvolved centres, we also went to freshers weeks, charity events, schools, and all the big festivals. Phew! My personal highlight had to be watching Dizzee Rascal from the bigvbus at T4 on the Beach. Oh alright, and Peter Andre falling down the steps. Awesomeness.
3)
On the subject of the bigvbus…We’re a friendly bunch at v and we love a good massage. Sounds so wrong but is so right when you are getting the World Record for the longest massage chain at Leeds festival in August 2009 with the bigvbus. Surreal yet muchos fun…for all the right reasons. Check out the pics here!
4)
We got a robot. And put it in Parliament. And now for the serious part (don’t let the title mislead you)…
So let’s not forget in amongst the massage madness that v are all about giving young people an empowered voice. That’s why we asked you what you cared about, plonked an orange robot in Parliament for 4 days and got it to write out your answers. It sounds bonkers, and it was a bit, but essentially, it was a means of getting you heard by the powers that be. vJemima likes this.
5)
vinspired Lake of StarsOctober was a big month for v, but it was especially special for vHannah, who went to none other than Malawi for the vinspired Lake Of Stars festival and climbed a mountain for charity while she was at it! The festival is all about promoting Malawian music and tourism and with the Maccabees, Sway, Nihal from BBC Radio 1, and of course v, supporting it, how could it not work. I was holding the fort in vinspired HQ, but I thought I had to put it in as a highlight because of all the amazing work vHannah did! Good on ya boss!
So now we have reminisced and nostalgia-ised, it is surely time to face up to the fact that I have an absolutely dreadful hangover from the office party and I need a nap and some choc. For pics of all the above, why not head to our sexy Facebook page.
So from me and the team at the new vinspired.com (another MASSIVE highlight BTW), it’s time to say goodbye to the noughties and hello to…urrr..the tens? May they bring you all that you deserve!
Until then! x
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By Jemima Jordan 10th December 09
It’s that time of year again folks: You know the one – days are a-draggin, pockets are a-emptyin’ and trees are a-bein’ chopped down and put up again! Boo but yay at the same time! Fear not though, we are still here to make sure you have endless opportunities to keep you sane through the season of overexposure to the family, to include this one which you can do from the comfort of your own home.It’s a continuation of our fabulously festive Gift of Time store that opened for four days only last weekend. Launched by none other than the beautiful Lucie Jones from X-Factor, who by the way, has stolen the heart of none other than vinspired’s Henry, it offered its customers free, gift wrapped time tokens to give to loved ones. And who said nothing comes for free!
The Application works by asking you how you would like to pledge your time to make a loved one’s life a wee bit better, and then connects with Facebook so that you can send the personalised time token straight to their page. If that wasn’t enough, you can also send it via email or print it off and deliver it by hand, so now you have no excuse!
For good measure and to really annoy my lovely brother, here as example of one I sent to him to make up for the socks I bought him:
Isn’t it great?
Oh and the family fun begins!Happy gift of time giving
Jemima
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