Presentation, Presentation, Presentation!

This week I have done 3 presentations, all of them with a different theme, vibe and ultimately experience for me.


2 of the presentations were in schools: one to over 100 pupils, and the other only 30 pupils (catholic school). Both schools are very active in their awareness raising of global poverty and regulary engage the children in a variety of activities which focus on the topic. I am always so amazed by the knowledge of even the youngest students and how interested they are in the world around them.

Although I do smile with the noises they make when they see the video of ye old London and there is shit (literally) flowing into the river Thames.

My other presentation was in partnership with Ayrshire Fairtrade Alliance. It was a public event and only around 22 people came. However, the feedback I received was amazing, I met with a huge variety of people who had different socio-economic backgrounds and varying degrees of interest is some of the issues I talked about.

This was the first time I was properly grilled on the presentation and asked for more facts and figures. I was so glad I brought my training pack with me; I’d rather have the right information and was not at all embarrassed about having to look things up for people. Some of the questions really threw me, but I think I managed to handle them well, with a degree of professionalism. Coping under pressure is part of my paid employment, and I think it stood me in good stead. I managed to obtain quite a few commitments, which is what the aim of the game is really. These people all want to know more, be more involved, and wither that’s 10 people or 100 or 1000 I know that it was because of me, and as the saying goes “every little helps”.

Presenting to kids

So today I am off to do my first presentation in a Primary School....ECK! I am pretty excited as its over 100 kids, plus 20odd teachers. Plus because of the attention span/ time allowance it'll be much shorter than usual. I just want to make sure I get all the main bits plus keep it interesting for the kids. Fingers crossed for me :)

I have my GPP t-shirt on. I love my t-shirt, I feel awesome in it!!

Charging ahead, business style

So today has been a very productive day, with a total of four presentations secured in the last week and a further two prospective meetings half set up. Despite my previous concerns that things just weren't moving, today proves that maybe I haven't been hitting this with the right gusto.

As some of you know when I am not volunteering I also engage in some paid employment (you know to pay bills, eat and of course buy nice things from time to time...) Some of you may know that my paid employment is in fact that of a helping people variety, for by day I am in fact a social worker.

I love my job. Despite the stressful case load, long hours (9-5 my ass) and rollercoaster of emotions that come on a daily basis, I do actually love my job. The reason I am telling you this as part of my blog on my peronal experiences and thoughts on extreme poverty is because today I made a connection between the two.

I have sent e-mails, letters, contact sheets, to a variety of schools, churches, and comunity groups in my local area. I have had next to no response and was beginning to think that I was swimming against the tides.

Then I thought, I work with difficult people every day. People who avoid my calls, ignore my letters and dodge my visits. I don't just sit back and let it happen, I don't feel like a failure and most importantly I don't give up!

So today I applied my work ethos to my voluntary work and total divided my list of schools up into sections. Todays was the local acadmeys and I called each one. I applied my work skills: polite, clear, to the point, and instantly making people like me, I combined them with the excellent skills taught at recent ambassador training on campaigning (thanks Sam) and made sure I caught and hold their attention quickly. I used the unsuccessful e-mails to my advance, quoting them as a reference before politely asking if there was any interest in the presentations explained in the e-mails. Funnily enough almost all the people hadn't seen or read the e-mail but I was able to leave ne number, and have secured two further meetings with head teachers as a result.

Tomorrow I move onto another segiment of the list. At this rate I may need another ambassador to split the jobs!! haha!!

Oxfam Grow Campaign - a worthwhile cause?

This month's campaign is the Oxfam grow campaign. This campaign has been going for a while and is a worthwhile (and easy cause) to get behind.

We all eat, its a universal human basic need. Some of us eat too much, some don't eat meat, others have food allergy's, but we all eat.

What you may find amazing is the fact that 1/3 of humanity is feed by small farms in the developing world. Over 500million of them!! In sub-sahara Africa and Asia produce almost 80% of the worlds food.

However, the majority of smallholder farmers still lack investment and consequently struggle to produce much beyond subsistence levels. Moreover, 1 in 7 people around the world goes to bed hungry every night and global population is set to increase by another 2 billion by 2050.

The Co-operative believe that with the right tools, training and investment, smallholder farmers offer an excellent route to feed the world’s growing population fairly and sustainably. What’s more, if supported to form co-operatives, this enables them to pool resources, realise economies of scale and secure fairer prices. In fact, on the launch of the International Year of Co-operatives, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, International Fund for Agricultural Development and World Food Programme all pledged to recognise and do more to enhance the contribution agricultural co-operatives can make towards food security and poverty reduction. 

During Rio+20, Nick Clegg announced that “Britain will help millions of small farms and communities adapt to potentially devastating changes in the climate and pull themselves out of poverty” and that “Over six million smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa and developing countries across the world will receive extra support as a result of Britain’s help”. Also, the Rio declaration itself affirmed that co-operatives are key for sustainable development.

This is a great starting point but that there is more to be done. 

·        Sign the petition

         Encourage others to sign the petition

Further reading

To find out more about The Co-operative’s Grow campaign you can visit

http://www.co-operative.coop/join-the-revolution/our-plan/tackling-global-poverty/campaigning-against-poverty/

Craftivism....good Winter Activism?

Staying active can be tiring. Talking about global poverty can drive the people around you up the wall (they have heard it a million times) and of course trying to re-inspire people when competing with TV adverts, campaigns, red nose day, all these things, can be really difficult.

A new type of activism is creeping through the UK. Craftivism. Putting Craft and Activism together.

Sarah Corbett founded the Craftivist Collective here in the UK and I have had peripheral interest since Sam Bacon mentioned it at the last training day. I would say I am quite a creative person (blogs?) but the problem is I tend to lack the skill to create what's in my head.

I did use to do a lot of cross stitching, and sewing is something I have been dead keen to get into for a while now. The things my mother can do - have you seen my cushions? That was big bits of material from a charity shop!! Honest.

I also think that sitting in when its cold and dark and wet outside is a given. And on a selfish and personal note anything that stops me reaching for the biscuit tin during the winter is a plus. (that's why I started blogging - to keep busy when I needed a cigarette - not really worked out the way I had hoped but I have acquired a taste, and I think a skill, for creative, free flowing narrative that is published online.... modestly).

So I think I might have to give this craftivism a go. I think aiming for Christmas Presents is the best way forward, like these little jam jar lids: I am thinking maybe over jars of sweets?

And look at this: isn't it just beautiful?

The power of a to-do list

We should never under estimate the power of a to-do list.

I have been described, on several occassions, as superbly organised, some have even used the phrase "anal-retentive", in fact in one of my placements I was asked to think about wieither my obsession with organisation was actually making my counter productive.

Anyway, you get the picture, the point is that as a result of this need to have things in a linear structure I can sometimes quickly lose focus, and motivation, when things go off-script. If things start to pile up, I panic, can't see the wood for the tress, and all that jazz!

However, I do have the power of self-recognition. So the other I sat and made a to-do list for the global poverty project and drew up a timeline to act on said list. So now I have a wonderful list of people to contact about the presentation, and a clear set of goals to achieve.

The result: a calmer, much happier, activist.

I shall let you know how I get on :)

lack of motivation, lack of structure, lacking all over

Its not been a positive time. Life, as they say, is giving me lemons - but people want orange juice!

Not to make excuses - but of late I have been extremely busy. Work is Mon-Friday, 9-5 (hahaha try 8-6 most days!). I run 3 nights a week, have guides one night, pole class one night, and squeeze in some me time and housework as well. My weekends are now spent back in Inverclyde, due mainly to the blossoming romance with my manfriend.

Now I am not blaming my manfriend, he is absolutely lovely and I love spending time with him. We don't see each other during the week because we live over an hour apart, and we both work during the week. Its not a chore or a hassle to see him at the weekends, plus my wonderful friends and family, who I try to spend as much time as possible with. My world revolves around the people in it, and I am finding more and more I don't want to be on my own.

However, my charity work is suffering. Saturdays were a great day to get online, read the blogs, brush up on my issues, tweet my MP and practice the presentation. I wrote my letters and sent 100s of e-mails off to schools, churches and local groups. I am finding it harder and harder to squeeze things into my life, and the last thing I want is to be half-arsed, at anything, especially the work I am doing for the Global Poverty Project.

I am in some need of motivation, a holiday, time off. I need a to-do list, structure, but find myself so wiped at night during the week I just don't have the energy to combat this. I have continued to send out e-mails, to little response. Which is becoming increasingly frustrating as time marches on. I feel restless, aggravated. I know of the violence and horror people are living in, through, in the poorest places in the world. I know, I care, and I feel guilty when yet another week passes and I have done nothing about it. I know the presentation is amazing, moving, motivating, inspiring, and yet I am struggling to sell it.

I need 8 days a week!