Help us to make it happen for the 2inspire Academy: Young, Gifted and Talented Compilation Album Project

Help us to make it happen for the 2inspire Academy: Young, Gifted and Talented Compilation Album Project.

2inspire Academy is a personal development community project for young people run by young people, in 2014 they launched a project titled Young, Gifted and Talented. It is a music development project which was developed for young artists that displayed amazing talent in areas such as song writing, vocals and performance. The Artists involved were all hand-picked via an audition process.

In order to fund the project 2inspire Academy have now launched a crowd funding campaign titled the Young, Gifted and Talented music compilation album project.

The aim of this crowd funding appeal is to raise enough funds to provide the artists with the opportunity to access a recording studio in order to; produce a compilation album, get experience, work with professionals, gain exposure, and develop their own individual projects.

More information on the ideology behind the project and what the funds raised will be used for can be found on the Indiegogo campaign page. This is where you can also watch the amazing video put together by the Young people of the Academy.

 CLICK HERE TO VIEW CAMPAIGN & VIDEO

On Friday 6th February 2015, 2inspire Academy will be hosting a showcase for  the Young, Gifted and Talented artists to raise awareness of
their fundraising campaign and to provide another opportunity for them to showcase their talents.

The showcase is from 8pm-10.30pm and will be FREE ENTRY to all. Registration is not necessary but if you register your attendance on the link below you can claim a free cocktail at the event:

TO CLAIM YOUR FREE COCKTAIL & REGISTER ON-LINE - CLICK HERE

We would like to thank all those who have supported the Academy and helped us with the campaign to date. On the back of the promotion for the campaign, doors have been opened for the Young, Gifted and Talented team to get advice and knowledge from key figures at Radio 1Xtra and MTV, these developments alone are so amazing as they are providing the artists with genuine opportunities to support their progression and to develop as artists. We appreciate that not every one can contribute but would really appreciate your support by helping us to spread the word about the campaign and share the link on social media platforms.  

For more information on the Academy and the work it does:  2inspire Academy Project Review

2inspire Network Profile Interview: Doreen Thompson-Addo, Programme Manager at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust

Doreen Thompson-Addo is the Programme Manager at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, she has worked at the trust for 4 years and has the responsibility of managing a team that delivers community, youth, school and graduate programmes across London.

Doreen started her career in New York City, spending a year on the Mountbatten Internship programme and working for a leading events management company.  For the past 10 years she has worked in the charity sector as a Project Manager with a focus on volunteer management, corporate social responsibility and youth talent development. She has had the privilege of delivering projects and workshops in countries such as Cuba, Greece, Italy and Turkey and has worked with a variety of companies including Disney, L'Oreal, JP Morgan and the BBC.

Outside of work she continues to mentor young people, provides advice to 2 start-up charities and also works for the family business (events decorations).  Below is an interveiw that gives insight on Doreen, her work at the Trust and her inspirations.

1/ Please tell us what is a typical working day for you?

As Programme Manager at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust my role involves managing a variety of exciting projects that transform the lives of young people and the wider community. Managing projects means that no 2 days are ever the same but a typical day may include catching up with my team to find out how they are progressing with meeting project targets, responding to important emails and phone calls, communicating any good news and case studies on our social media platform and giving presentations in schools and the wider community about the work of the Trust.

2/ What would you say has been your greatest accomplishment at work to date?

One of my greatest accomplishments was developing the Social Enterprise arm of the Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre called Works 4 U (where I was employed from 2004 to 2010). The organisation wanted to encourage more corporate businesses to volunteer in the communities where they work and so I spent 2 years building relationships with corporate employers and developing a scheme where their employees can donate their time and skills to their local community. Today, Works 4 U is a thriving Social Enterprise with clients such as Disney, Coca Cola, Starbucks, Ikea and L’Oreal.

3/ What has been your biggest challenge at work so far?

The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust is a charity and our income is generated from a number of different sources. The funding environment for many charities is a big challenge and it is important that we continue to think creatively and innovatively about how income is generated and spent. Like any business, financial management is very important and we want to continue to make sure that we generate income so that we can continue to support young people across the country to achieve their goals and aspirations. However, I always see challenges as an opportunity to learn something new and to think of creative ways in which a solution can be found.

4/What are your future plans for the Trust?

We are very ambitious at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and over the next few years we want to see continued growth in the work we do for young people as well as the wider community. We also want to see more people using the Stephen Lawrence Centre in Deptford where we have excellent facilities. As we are a national charity it is also our goal to reach out to young people beyond London and maybe even the world!

5/If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

I would have had a professional mentor at a young age. I did not have a mentor in school or university but it is important to have a role model in your life who can help you achieve your career aspirations. Even if you don’t know what you want to do as a career, having a role model/mentor can really help you to navigate the many opportunities that are out there.

6/ What’s the best compliment you could receive at work?

I am very happy when someone tells me that a project or event that I have managed has had a positive impact in their life. For me it really is about making a difference in the lives of people and if I can achieve that then it’s a great compliment.

7/ Why is it so important to inspire young women in particular to follow their dreams?

We have all been blessed with natural gifts and abilities and women should have the opportunity to use the skills and talents that they have, as they have so much to offer. Many women still feel that they cannot achieve their dreams for a number of different reasons and it’s important that we can encourage them and lead them to fulfil their goals and ambitions. This does not mean that following your dreams will be easy, but it is about saying that if you have a dream as a woman you shouldn’t feel that it cannot be achieved.

8/ What advice would you give to somebody who wants to work in your field?

Working in the Charity/Voluntary sector can be very rewarding and many people say they get high levels of work satisfaction working for a charity.  One piece of advice I would give to someone interested in working in the field of Project Management (other than finding a mentor – which I talked about earlier) is to gain some volunteering/work experience.  I got my first job in the sector because I had volunteered as a Youth Worker in my local church for 2 years.  During my time as  a volunteer I learnt about fundraising, organising youth activities, managing teams, developing proposals and partnership working.  This helped me to get my first job in the charity sector as a Youth Project Officer. There are lots of volunteering opportunities out there, ranging from ones where you don’t need much experience to ones where specific skill are needed. A good website to go to for volunteering opportunities is www.do-it.org.uk. 

9/What or who inspires you, and why?

I am inspired by businesses who not only operate for profit but also have a goal of making a difference in society. Corporate Social Responsibility is becoming more important in business and I look up to business leaders who incorporate social responsibility in their daily operations. There are many businesses today tackling important issues around education, health and poverty and that really does inspire me.

10/What is your favourite inspirational quote?

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” - Lao Tzu . I love this quote because many times we dream of journeys we want to take, be it a career journey, relationship journey or personal journey. There are all sorts of excuses and reasons we can give for not starting the journey but if you just start by taking that first step, who knows where it could lead you!

Find out more about the work of the Stephen Lawrence Trust:

Website:www.stephenlawrence.org.uk
Facebook:www.facebook.com/stephenlawrencecharitabletrust
Twitter: www.twitter.com/S_LawrenceTrust

2Inspire Network Profile on Shine ALOUD UK, a youth owned and youth led sexual health awareness enterprise

Shine ALOUD UK is a youth owned and youth led sexual health awareness enterprise that aims to educate, entertain and empower young people aged 15 - 24. Through producing a quarterly publication, videos and running workshops and events, Shine ALOUD UK aims to equip youth with the necessary tools to confidently and comfortably negotiate their sexuality. 

Why are we different?

The enterprise is original and unique as it represents the voices of young people and provides them with the opportunity to learn about sex and relationships on a personal level where they can indulge in an online magazine, workshops and videos. But more so original and unique as it is combines the likes of arts and culture thereby appealing to the interests of our target audience as well as providing worthwhile media opportunities to allow young people to expand their creativity.

As a young person I felt there was no literature available that was engaging in regards to sexual health, all the magazine that were available were dominated by beauty, celebrities and fashion. I wanted to create something that was different and allowed young people to be empowered about sexuality as well as represented positively.

What feedback have we received?

All of the feedback we receive from young peoples and our readers we take on board to improve our enterprise. We were told that our magazine would be more appealing in a physical form so we produced the first issue in February which we circulated to 5000 young people in around East London at Youth Hostels, Colleges, Gum Clinics, Community Centres, Youth Centres, Arts Centres and more. Much of the feedback can be found online via www.shinealoud.co.uk , but here are two comments:

 “Shine Aloud has the ability to communicate with young people on a simple but effective way featuring articles that are true for those reading them. Quite often we read articles written about people who have not experienced what they are writing about so they don’t know how to talk to the reader, or relate to the reader. Shine Aloud has been a great service East London community and I hope that more people will read it and get more from it. By Verity Nelson

“What separates Shine ALOUD to other platforms in my opinion is its engagement with the youths and adults of our day; it is often surprising to hear what we have to say about our knowledge or thoughts and opinions within these topics. Controversial questions such as “Can friends date, their ex’s?” are questions that can often bring us together in debating in a productive manner, and in fact it is always interesting to hear what a majority of people have to say with regards to these topics. This is a magazine that will always be needed in our local community, schools, colleges and etc.” By Ruben Ferreira

Our current team

At the moment, Shine ALOUD works with a range of freelance writers, photographers and graphic designers which we are EXTREMELY grateful for, however we are determined to recruit and hire a team of young people to manage all of our activity, everything from editing the online site to promoting our campaigns, to contacting youth provisions and organising interviews. We are determined to allow young people to have an active role in the company by allow them to take and make work for themselves.

Moving forward

In the future we hope to produce a publication regionally across the country, in addition to maintaining a virtual online website. Secondly, we hope to deliver sexual health awareness workshops across youth provisions and in and around the community. And lastly, we hope to embark on cultural exchanges with young people overseas, providing education to those who most need it across the globe.

We hope you can support us on our mission by donating to our current Crowd funding Campaign titled: The Sexual Empowerment of Young People!

You can find out more via https://www.indiegogo.com/command_center/shine-aloud-uk-the-sexual-empowerment-of-young-people

For more information follow and like us via @ShineALOUD

Shine ALOUD: Sex & Relationships with a different tone!

WWW.SHINEALOUD.CO.UK