The annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival took place in London last week with a wide selection of films that show human rights issues and abuse around the world. The festival highlighted issues such as the privatisation of the water supply in Bolivia and trafficking of young women in Eastern Europe.

In the documentary ‘Little Heaven’ we meet the clever and ever so sweet Lydia, who lives in an orphanage in Ethiopia together with other teenagers that have become her family. They all come from difficult backgrounds but they are happy in the orphanage, there’s food on the table and they all go to school. The intense medication routines these kids have to do several times each day is what differs their days to the days of other kids. The reason for this is because they are all living with HIV.

‘Little Heaven’ is a gorgeous piece of film that gives you the opportunity to share the everyday lives of these young teenagers – the pressures of doing well in school, the joy of water surfing when cleaning the floors with loads of water and soap, the admiration of footballers like Drogba whose poster has a prime spot on the wall above the bed.  The film wants to highlight the stigma that surrounds many living with HIV in Africa as well as informing of help that exists in terms of free medication if you’re registered with a hospital.

I went along to the screening of ‘Little Heaven’ at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) and was very moved by Lydia’s story. And so was everyone else in that cinema. We all ignored the beaming London spring sun and the beer gardens we passed on our way there so I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one passionate about the cause wanting to support Lydia and her friends. But there was no call to action and not much further information from Human Rights Watch. The filmmaker, Lieven Corthouts, was there for a Q&A in which he briefly mentioned that the orphanage is being funded by a small NGO in Belgium. But no name, no website details, and no instructions on how we could support their work.

Corthouts has created a beautiful and sensitive film and I wish I had time to watch more films during the festival but the aim of the festival feels a little lost to me. According to the official programme “The film festival brings human rights abuses to life through storytelling in a way that challenges each individual to empathise and demand justice for all”. But what does that mean? What difference does our empathy make? And how do we go about demanding justice for all?

Raising awareness is of course crucial, and a film festival is a brilliant way of doing it for any culture-loving person like me but I do feel slightly superficial when watching a film like this, next door to the Queen, and I’m not asked to do anything about it afterwards. Corthouts mentioned that the organisation probably needs to build/buy another orphanage but financial issues are preventing them. Why not ask us to help out? There could be a straightforward call to action and I’m certain everyone in the ICA that evening would have helped out, at least with some cash before leaving the cinema.

I’ve done some Googling and I think the organisation behind Little Heaven is called Siddartha. Unfortunately the donation page doesn’t make much sense.

A missed fundraising opportunity?

This guest post was written by Neelam Shah, a Kingston University student studying Journalism with Media and Cultural Studies. Neelam shares her top tips on volunteering and where to find those opportunities that will give students and young people a chance to help out in the community and meet new people whilst gaining experience to put on that all important CV.

With youth unemployment hitting a record of around 1.6 million, queues outside job centres are increasing and university graduates are leaving with fewer prospects of finding their ultimate dream jobs. The prime minister’s new initiative to get approximately 500,000 work experience/internship or apprenticeship placements for the unemployed 18-24s in 2015 is in debate with some feeling skeptical about the government’s initiative and whether companies would hire.

Well the question is what shall young people do in the meantime, sit at home and be bored or consider other ways to gain experience, skills without a salary to start with. Volunteering is considered the best aid for job hunters with employers looking for people who have gained new skills, experiences in working for charities, organisations and social enterprises because it shows real initiative and entrepreneurial flair.

Volunteering isn’t just for the retired, people of any age can contribute little or as much as they like to their local communities, boroughs, or internationally by taking on a suitable voluntary role. If you are 18 and have decided to take a gap year, then travelling abroad and working for a charity is great experience, even volunteering in the UK is fantastic as there are many organisations just waiting for new hands to help out.

Here are my top five tips for finding volunteering work that suits your needs:

• Research organisations in your area that you would like to volunteer for and that you think would help you with your specialised career choice

• If you are in full time education and looking for some general practical customer related experience over the weekend, contact local charity/fundraising shops, which are sure to increase your employment prospects. For more info on how to locate charity shops, apply etc. check with Charity Retail Association

• If you are a traveller, why not look for opportunities or projects that you find meets your needs/interests in that country? Check out Do-it for details on volunteering opportunities abroad and in the UK

• If you are a sporty person, ask your favourite charity whether they’ve got any fundraising events coming up and you could take part in a marathon, hiking challenge, bike ride, canoe trip, triathlon etc. Or you could volunteer at adventure holidays with charities like The Newman Holiday Trust

• There are many flexible voluntary roles within the public sector available such as fundraising, marketing, advertising, admin, web design, finance, accounting, drama, dance, music, filming, writing, painting, mentoring, assistant teacher, youth worker etc. Check out Vinspired, a UK based voluntary organisation open for 14-25 yr olds, to get involved with any projects/opportunities on any interests, anywhere in the UK.

If you want to try something new, want to put your hobby or interest into practice, meet new people, gain practical working experience, something great to add to your CV then why not give volunteering a go.

February 20-26 is Student Volunteering Week which is a great initiative with loads of events taking place all over the UK – have a look and see what goes on in your town and how you can get involved. You can also search for volunteering opportunities via the links we’ve listed here, or you could microvolunteer in your own time on some of the new projects over on Bright Works. Happy volunteering – and do let us know about your own volunteering experiences, we love a good inspiring story!

With cuts being made to local news, and new media providing people with tools to tell stories from their area, citizen journalism is on the rise. Anyone with a smart phone and/or internet access can easily report on breaking news happening where they are and sites like Blottr and Citizens’ Eye are helping them spread their stories.

Bright One founder Ben Matthews was on the panel at a debate organised by Blottr last week. The debate took place at London College of Communication (LCC) and the speakers discussed the role of citizen journalism and its use of new media.

On the panel, together with Ben, were: Adam Baker, Blottr’s founder, Ramaa Sharma, senior lecturer at the BBC College of Journalism, Russell Merryman, lecturer at LCC who helped launch Al Jazeera English, and Mark Stone, Sky News reporter who used his iPhone to report from the London riots earlier this year. The debate was chaired by Milo Yiannopoulos, Blottr columnist and writer for The Times.

The speakers all had interesting points to make in regards to the level of truth and the speed of news and if you’re interested in reading more about what was said in the debate, this post on the Blottr site will give you a good overview.

We are looking for Bright Ones interested in writing for our popular blog. We use the Bright One blog to communicate with our internal and external community about our latest announcements, exciting campaigns and news regarding our charities, and to discuss the latest developments in the world of communications and charities.

We want to make sure the blog is updated regularly with interesting comments and the latest trends to ensure our readers feel they can trust the Bright One blog to be a useful source of information and discussions. We would therefore like to have a blogging volunteer onboard to help us make the blog bigger and better!

People applying for this role should have a keen interest in charities and communications in general and blogging and social media in particular.

The blog editor will:

• Provide strategic guidance in regards to the blog and its content
• Create content to the blog on a regular basis
• Help to grow blog traffic
• Seek out opportunities for blog content and guest bloggers

Key requirements for this role:

• Good writing skills
• Attention to detail
• A self-starter who can use their initiative to proactively seek out opportunities
• Able to work independently
• Basic SEO skills
• Highly organised and professional

This is a voluntary position.

Interested applicants should send CV and covering letter to Tove Nordstrom at tove.nordstrom@brightone.org.uk

Bright One socials are great opportunities for volunteers and friends of Bright One to meet on a regular basis for some drinks, food and chat. We had a great one earlier this summer in Clerkenwell and with the summer being (almost) over we feel it’s time to kick-start this autumn with a good catch-up. Come and meet new as well as old volunteers, the Bright One team, and other nice peeps within the Bright One community!

The September Social will take place in Central London on Thursday 29 September and you’re welcome to come and join us for some after-work drinks from 6.30pm onwards at:

The Old Crown Public House         

33 New Oxford Street, London, WC1A 1BH

Nearest tube stations:            

Tottenham Court Road (400m)
Holborn (400m)
Covent Garden (600m)
Leicester Square (750m)
Goodge Street (900m)

RSVP here (or just show up on the day!)

Hope to see you there!

Bright One client The DoNation is looking for a motivated and driven marketing intern with an interest in sustainability, behaviour change and communications. The DoNation is on the look-out for someone who can support the team in increasing The DoNation’s presence among key sporting organisations and environmental networks and support the development and implementation of The DoNation’s broader marketing strategy.

The DoNation is a dynamic start-up with a small team and the intern will therefore be able to experience all aspects hands-on, developing The DoNation’s various communications offline as well as online.

Details:

Location: London

Hours: 3-4 days a week

Duration: 3 months

Salary: Voluntary with expenses

Website: www.thedonation.org.uk 

Application deadline: Monday 15^th August

There’s much more info to find here and if you’ve got further questions, email Hermione at Hermione@thedonation.org.uk

We’re looking for a graduate to work with Carbon Leapfrog, a new and unique business-led charity that channels free professional advice from leading service providers across a range of disciplines into UK and international carbon reduction projects.

Intern Objectives:

To help identify and extract the marketing opportunities for Carbon Leapfrog’s various projects 

Increase the awareness and reach of Carbon Leapfrog’s projects among their various stakeholders 

Provide a solid foundation of marketing support for future campaigns and activity

How?

• Work closely with the Carbon Leapfrog team to identify marketing opportunities and create campaigns around their projects 
• Maximise coverage opportunities in the press through media relations including social media, creation and distribution of press releases, feature opportunities and case studies
• Participate in the ongoing creation and implementation of marketing collateral

Skills

• Good organisational and planning skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• The ability to work on multiple projects at one time
• Good attention to detail and accuracy
• Strong IT skills
• Good knowledge of marketing techniques
• Self initiative

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Help to create and implement a Marketing, PR and Communications plan
• Identify appropriate media publications to target
• Drafting and distribution of press releases
• Create and update social media channels around appropriate projects
• Identify awards opportunities
• Help with the development and implementation of a new website
• Join in the sourcing of information for, and the writing of, the bi-monthly newsletter – e-mailed to the entire network
• Help in the organising of events
• Use the CRM database (currently Sales Force) as a marketing tool

How Long?

The internship lasts for 3 months, but this could be adjusted according to candidates’ needs

How Much?

Travel Expenses will be paid.

Next Steps:

If you feel that this role is for you, please send a CV and covering letter to ben@brightone.org.uk

We thought that it’d be good to let you all know how we here at Bright One use the internet to reach out to people, so we’ve made the below Bright One Online guide(using the excellent online tool Prezi). It shows you where you can find and connect with all of Bright One on the internet, and keep up-to-date with what we are up to. To watch the guide you can either navigate through it manually (by clicking on the arrow which takes you through each point) or hover over it until you see “autoplay” and it will take you through it..

You can find the links to all our online presence below…don’t be shy, come and find us!

]]> http://brightone.org.uk/bright-one-online/feed/ 2 http://brightone.org.uk/the-ties-that-bind/ http://brightone.org.uk/the-ties-that-bind/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:19:34 +0000 nicolajones http://brightone.org.uk/?p=1373 This is a note from Nicola Jones, Bright One’s new Community Manager. You can follow her on Twitter at @navigatornic.

I’ve been watching Bright One from the periphery since its very early days. I’ve seen it grow and become and exciting and creative player in third sector communications, a real alternative to the traditional forces at work, so when I heard Bright One were looking for a Community Manager the chance to combine my own skills with volunteering for an organisation I’ve admired greatly was too good to be true!

By day I am the Community and Communications Manager of UnLtdWorld.com – an online community that connects social entrepreneurs to the people, tools and information they need to change the world. I’ve been lucky enough to be at UnLtdWorld pretty much since its conception. It’s been a crazy ride, taking it from a simple idea to a community of over 13,000 members worldwide.

I think I’ve ended up as a Community Manager mostly because I’ve always liked teams. I like the idea of feeling a part of something. I strongly believe in the power of a united and strong community and how that will always succeed more than people striking out alone.

What will having a Community Manager mean to Bright One? Hopefully it will further strengthen the ties Bright One has to all its stakeholders, make everyone feel part of a movement, make people feel connected to Bright One before, during and after any interaction they have with us.

Community Managers are a fairly new breed, an important development in a marketplace where there are so many distractions and so many competitors. It is important to make people feel like they belong to something to ensure their loyalty and engagement. So whilst I could try and tell you what the best practice is for community engagement, I’m not sure there should be any. There are things that all communities need, qualities that Community Managers should have, but each community is so different that the only really key things are being versatile, relevant and listen to your community. What they say goes.

So that’s what I’ll try and bring as Bright One’s Community Manager. In practice I’ll be running Bright One’s social media presence, but more than that I’ll be working with internal and external communications to really look at how we all relate to each other. In theory, I’ll listen to how you all want to communicate and I’ll not be afraid to chop and change as you do, and as Bright One grows…

Oh and I’ll try not to talk about my Oasis obsession too much!