Learn about Volunteering Opportunities at ‘Meet VSO’

Dec 7
By Tove |
Posted in events | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

 

Are you looking for a volunteering opportunity overseas but don’t know where to start? Would you like to know more about potential countries or roles? Would you like to meet experienced volunteers who could give you advice? ‘Meet VSO’ might be something for you.

Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) arranges regular events where you can go and chat with VSO staff and returned volunteers about volunteering. They share experiences and expertise in order to give you an insight into what it’s like to volunteer.                                                                                                                                               

The next ‘Meet VSO’ event is taking place tomorrow, Thursday 8 December at 7pm, so go along for your chance to ask questions and learn more. At the moment VSO is recruiting for skilled professionals within areas such as healthcare, education and business.

The event is free but booking is essential so take a look at the website and book here

Bright Works Awarded in European Volunteering Competition

Dec 7
By admin |
Posted in BrightWorks, events, News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

 

We’re delighted that Bright Works, our microvolunteering app, received the award for third place in the Discover E-Volunteering competition, the only competition in Europe which aims to promote the most interesting projects in which volunteers help others via the Internet.

Over 80 applications from organisations from 19 European countries were received and were great examples of various e-volunteering activities happening: free web counseling, forming assistance and self-help groups, e-tutoring, sharing professional skills and knowledge and many more.

The International Selection Committee chose the best 12 initiatives, with over 18,000 people then voting for the best e-volunteering projects in an online poll. The official announcement of the winners took place on December 1st in Warsaw at the Gala of Volunteering, the final event of the European Year of Volunteering 2011.

We were delighted to be awarded alongside some other amazing projects and look forward to developing Bright Works further following this success.

You can see who the other winners are here and find out more about Bright Works here (and make sure you sign up too!)

Bright One Announces PR Industry’s PR Prom

Dec 1
By Tove |
Posted in BrightOne News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

We’re very excited to announce the date for Bright One’s inaugural PR Prom that will take place on February 23rd 2012. The PR Prom is a fundraising event in support of Bright One and will be held at the fabulous London venue, Shoreditch Town Hall. There will be food, drinks, live performances by She Makes War and The Olympians, dancing, the opportunity to take classic prom-style photos, a silent auction and other surprises.

According to Ben Matthews, founder of Bright One “The PR Prom promises to be a fantastic event and will provide some much needed support to the valuable work that Bright One does. We want to see the industry come out to support their own and have fun while doing good.”

The night is looking to be a lot of fun – and there will even be a Prom King and Queen that you’ll be able to nominate and vote for on Twitter ahead of the night, like this: ‘I nominate @xxx for #prpromking’ or ‘I nominate @xxx for #prpromqueen’.

We’ve had some fantastic support in organising the PR Prom, especially from Amanda Rose, founder of Twestival and advisor to Bright One. Amanda said: “For our inaugural Bright One fundraising event we wanted to put together something special and quirky that everyone in the UK PR industry would look forward to each year. Many of the events out there are limited to those PR companies winning awards or at a price that only a few staff can attend – we hope to see lots of new faces out for PR Prom.”

The campaign to promote the event features well-known faces from the PR and communications industry, who Bright One thanks for their support; Kerry Bridge (Dell), Jon Silk (Waggener Edstrom), Kate Matlock (Ketchum Pleon), Reda Haq (Cohn and Wolfe), Jordan Stone (We Are Social) and Nik Thakkar (Exposure). Stephen Waddington, MD of Speed, has also lent his support to the event, “Bright One makes a huge difference to the reputation of charities through the work of its volunteers. PR Prom is a chance for everyone in the PR industry to contribute to Bright One’s work – and have a great night out. Have you booked your ticket yet?’

 

Details:

Date: February 23rd 2012

Time: 7pm till late

Venue: Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, City of London, EC1V 9LT

Tickets: £25 – on sale at www.prprom.eventbrite.com

Follow @prprom for more info or check out the website www.prprom.org

 

We can’t wait and we hope to see you there!

Infographic: Lasa’s Annual Review

Nov 30
By benmatthews |
Posted in News | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

 

Bright One board member Zoe Amar (@zoeamar) has been hard at work with Lasa,  the charity that provides technology and welfare rights advice, as well as influencing policy on advice, legal services and third sector technology.

Lasa’s new annual review demonstrates the impact it has had in its work with thousands of charities and government bodies across the UK. And what better way to get that impact across in a clear and simple way than an infographic?

We really like the idea and are thinking about doing something similar for our upcoming annual report. To find out more about the difference that Lasa has made this year, you can also download a copy of their 2010-2011 Annual Review.

Lasa infographic summarising 2010-2011 annual review

 

Proposition is Principal – Case Study: Macmillan Cancer Support ‘Every Step of the Way’

Nov 29
By sophiemunro |
Posted in Case Study, News | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Everyone keeps going on about the gloomy economic climate and inevitable double dip… and while we leave such judgments and forecasts to the professionals, where does this leave charities and how can Bright One help?

In order to cement their place in the ‘marketplace’, one of the most important things a charity can do is to ensure their proposition is bang on target. Bright One can help clients achieve this focus and ensure it is concisely and clearly communicated.

Macmillan Cancer Support is one such charity that recently felt the need to address its public image and counter the common misconception that the charity just provides palliative / end of life care to terminally ill patients. While Macmillan nurses are a key part of the charity’s service, Macmillan wanted to draw attention to its entire suite of services.

The charity’s new integrated brand campaign Every Step of the Way centres around a TV advertisement, which you may have seen, along with print, digital and radio too (keep your eye out on the underground). Targeted at a broader audience than Macmillan has previously targeted, it encourages the public as a whole to reassess the charity’s role. Macmillan’s suite of services is spelled out in every step of the advertisement, from the nurses and therapists helping you through treatment, to the advisers telling you which benefits you’re entitled to and the community supporting you online. An effective twist is that the filming focuses on the feet – reinforcing the message that Macmillan supports you every ‘step’ of the way.

The response to the TV advertisement has been varied to say the least. While some have condemned it for lack of emotion (an impression given by the lack of eye contact), others have praised it for accurately portraying, without ostentation, the situations that one faces when affected by cancer: ‘flashy it isn’t – but it shouldn’t be’.

It is a far cry from Macmillan’s previous campaign, Good Day, but the creative brief was wholly different… Does that mean it is more effective or less so? Please post your comments below.

Bright Works Update: New Projects, New Features and Competition Finals

Nov 29
By benmatthews |
Posted in BrightOne News, BrightWorks, events, News | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

 

Bit of a update on Bright Works for you:

Bright Works Feature Update

We launched Bright Works, our micro-volunteering app, back in July to a warm welcome. We knew that was when the hard work began though and we’ve been working with the lovely team at Dharmafly to make that happen.

With that said, the next iteration of Bright Works will soon be with us with the introduction of a “slippy tank” (think a similar interface to how Google Maps works), so we ‘ll soon be able to add lots more projects and help more charities. The above image is a sneak peak and there are some final tweaks to be put in place, so make sure you sign up to Bright Works to be alerted of when the feature goes live.

Add your project to Bright Works

And if you’re a charity, social enterprise or other non-profit who could use help from a global community of volunteers – for free – simply send us an email and we’ll get going on adding your project to Bright Works.

We’re working on a self-service option and should have that up and running in the near future, so that you can add projects to Bright Works yourself.

Current projects on Bright Works

That being said, there’s still projects being added all the time that you can help with.

For example, The Bloomtrigger Project are pioneering a new, visual model of online fundraising to empower people to help protect rainforest in a simple, affordable and a creative way. They’re looking for help with their PR campaign and need to contact business and companies that might be interested in the project, so if you think you can help then sign up and claim one of the tasks now.

There’s also AfghanAid, Unlock and more to help, so there’s never been a better time to get microvolunteering!

Discover E-Volunteering Competition Finals

We let you know a few months ago about the Discover E-Volunteering competition, where Bright Works had been shortlisted for the final voting.

We’re delighted to have been been invited to the final, so thanks for all your votes!

The announcement of the winners will take place on the 1st December during the Final Gala in Warsaw, Poland, which is being organized as an event accompanying the Final Conference of the European Year of Volunteering 2011.

We’ll be reporting back on how we got on, so cross your fingers…

–

Phew! That’s all for now – happy volunteering!

Where to list your volunteering opportunities

Nov 27
By benmatthews |
Posted in How To | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

 

Bright One is busy, busy, busy as usual. We’ve got lots of exciting charities looking for our support and we always need to find lots of high quality volunteers (as many charities and non-profit organisations like us us do…).

We regularly list our current volunteering opportunities, as well as retain a general application for volunteers not sure about what project they’d like to help on.

But where else can you list volunteering roles to attract more volunteers for specific positions, and generally?

We’ve compiled a list of places where you can find and promote volunteering opportunities below. Got a site to add? Let us know in the comments!

General volunteering opportunities:

Sector specific:

Location specific:

2012 PR Graduate Schemes

Nov 25
By benmatthews |
Posted in BrightOne News, How To, News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

 

The PR industry continues to grow and many agencies are seeing the value on running a formal grad scheme to attract the brightest and best new talent.

The ever-awesome Ben Cotton over at Social Web Thing has once again done a fantastic job of compiling a post on PR Graduate Schemes from some of the best agencies in the UK.

But with more competition than ever, you may need to differentiate yourself from the pack. Why not find out about volunteering with Bright One and you’ll be able to add that little extra to your CV that really shows you are one of the best!

And if you’re a PR agency looking to promote your grad scheme, just get in touch and we’ll add you to the list.

2012 PR Graduate Schemes

Blue Rubicon
Open
Closes: 22 January 2012

Burson-Marseller
Does not run a PR graduate scheme, but is open for internships all year round, many of which lead to permanent positions.

Chime Comms
Open: November
Closes:

Diffusion 
Open: November
Closes:

Edelman 
Open: 1 December 2011
Closes:

Fishburn Hedges
Open
Closes: The deadline for the April 2012 intake is 12 December 2011 and the deadline for the September 2012 intake is 3 February 2012.

Fleishman-Hillard
Open
Operates a six month training scheme all year round. On completion of the Graduate Scheme the candidates performance will be reviewed and, if satisfactory, graduates will be considered for a permanent position.

Four Comms 
Open
Closed: 31 January 2012

Hill & Knowlton 
Closed: 28 October 2011

Hotwire Group (encompassing Hotwire and Skywrite)
Open: November/December 2011
Closes: 30 January 2012

Ketchum Pleon: James Maxwell Programme
 Open
Closes: 30 March 2012

Lexis PR
Open: November 2011
Closes: 20th February

Speed Comms
Open: 30 November 2011
Closes: 19 January 2012

Huffington Post UK launches Impact section

Nov 23
By nickstanton |
Posted in News | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Last Friday saw the launch of a new section of the, still relatively new itself, Huffington Post UK. The new Impact section is “dedicated to issues, charities and making a difference” — so that’s up our street, right? Well yes, it definitely is and so I’d urge everyone to take a look and see what people are writing but more importantly think about getting in touch with them and writing something about your campaign.

The launch saw some big names pen blogs about themselves and their current campaigns – including people from Gingerbread, Barnardo’s, UNICEF and my boss at Citizens Advice – and if the US version is anything to go by it may well become an important campaigning platform.
If you’re thinking about pitching your idea to the Impact team (details of how to do that are here) then here’s our three top tips for writing a blog:

1. Say one thing

This is a useful tip for any writing but when you’re blogging try and just say one thing. Of course you can have a multi-faceted argument but throughout you should have a single common theme. You also don’t have very long (the Huffington Post recomend blogs between 500-800 words) so you just won’t have the room for that 30-page policy consultation you’ve been working on.

2. Write it as you, the individual

If you pitch to the Huffington Post you’ll be doing that as an individual so when you write a post don’t revert back to being an organisation. This can be tricky, especially if you’re used to talking as part of a bigger organisation, but once you start it’ll get easier.

This is also a good time to think about who blogs. You should start by thinking about who has the most interesting story to tell – your Chief Executive will have a great insight into policy but your frontline workers will be much better placed to talk about other areas.

3. It doesn’t end when you see your blog on the screen

Last week I heard the Huffington Post UK editor-in-chief, Carla Buzasi, talk about their model and one of the main things she stressed was the importance of using blogger’s networks to promote blogs. In short, when you blog, tell your friends and contacts to read it!

Also, whereas if you write an opinion piece for a newspaper you may, at the most, get a letter from a reader in response. With blogs feedback is more immediate and part of the process so keep an eye on the comment box and if anyone asks you a questions, answer it.

Bright One Volunteer is a Team London Star

Nov 20
By Tove |
Posted in BrightOne News | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

We’re very proud to see one of our Bright One volunteers – Oana Munteanu – as one of the Team London Stars in the Mayor of London’s latest volunteering programme. Team London is a programme which aims to make volunteering easier to do and easier to find out about and the focus is on areas such as cutting crime, improving quality of life and increasing youth opportunities.  

The recently launched advertising campaign includes our brilliant volunteer Oana as one of the Team London Stars who have all been nominated due to their volunteering efforts in the capital and they will hopefully inspire others to volunteer. “I think this is a really nice project because not only does it give recognition to people who give up their time to help others but it also promotes them as role models so other people will follow in their footsteps”, says Oana who is hoping to inspire others to take part in volunteering activities. When asked about her favourite aspects of volunteering Oana stated that it is “when you see the results of your work and put a smile on other people’s faces”.

 

“If someone is thinking to volunteer but doesn’t know how, I would advise him/her to do whatever he/she likes best. I think that transforming your hobby or interest into voluntary work is the biggest motivation and it will bring satisfaction to yourself and the people who benefit from your volunteering.”

 

Big congrats to Oana from the Bright One team!

 

If you would like to volunteer with Bright One or would like to know more about volunteering opportunities we’d love to hear from you! Send us an email via the contact page or drop us a line on Twitter @brightone