International skillshare conference 2016

As part of the British Red Cross I was invited to help with their International Skillshare Conference at Stansted Airport. It lasts three days and people from other Red Cross societies around the world all come and share stories and experiences with each other and how they go about trying to raise the most money they can for the charity.

I was one of the volunteers at the event and it was great to see how a conference is done as this is an event I have not yet experienced. It was a lot of work though, I was working from 8am till 10pm each day. But it was also great fun, and I met some amazing people and also got the chance to network with a lot of event planners from around the world. Work placements maybe?

Again, I was the youngest volunteer there, everyone else was studying their masters, apparently it is really hard to get an internship with The British Red Cross so I must have done really well to get my place.

We were given personal itineraries and workshops that we we were in charge of and making sure that the speakers had everything they needed. We were on the registration desk at different times in the day and also had to help set up for the gala dinner on the last night which also showed me how planning a dinner works and having to sort out seating plans and such.

It was a really good experience and I loved it even though it was very tiring because i’ve met so many amazing people whilst being there. I cant wait to go back and do it all over again next year.

Experience: 9/10

Hours earned: 30

Running total of hours: 263.5

Skillshare conference

Skillshare conference

Gala Dinner

Skillshare conference

Skillshare conference

Interrnational skillshare conference

Skillshare conference

British Red Cross Humanitarian Awards- Saturday 13th August

So this Saturday I went down to the UK head office in London to be part of the judging panel for the annual Humanitarian awards. An award to celebrate young people and volunteers in the Red Cross.

My day started at nine when i got on the train and i reached the head office at 11.

We started the day with a briefing of what we’d be doing. We then set to work looking through all the applications, all 500 of them and had the tedious task of widdling them down to 20. Four categories and five nominees in each one. We then had to pick a final winner for each of these categories.

It was half four when we finished and even then we hadn’t managed to do the other award running along side the Humanitarian awards  so we now have to do that judging over email.

The next thing is to go down to London for the actual event its self as well as helping to set up the event and run it on the night with ten other volunteers i will also be presenting an award too.

I had a really good day down at the head office and i cant wait for the awards night at the palace of Westminster in November. I am also the youngest judge on the panel as well as everybody else is doing their masters at university and i have only just finished my first year of an undergraduate degree.

Experience: 8/10

Hours earned: 5 1/2

Running total of hours: 223.5

Platform Projects Awards -Thursday 28th April

This afternoon I was helping the Final year students with their live event- The Platform Project Awards 2016. An event that is held at the end of each year to celebrate the final year students finishing university and to reward the students for all the hard work that they have put into their live event.

12:00 Pm – Thursday 28th April

I arrived at Channing Hall which is the venue it was held at, at 12 o’clock and was set straight to work, unloading the decorations from the vehicles and then once everything was inside we were given a health and safety briefing from the group of girls in charge. We were made aware of what to do if we spotted a fire or if the fire alarm went off. We were told who the first aiders were and to clear anything out of the way of fire exits or to clean up any broken glass. They were really professional in making sure everybody knew what they were doing and that everybody was safe.

12:30 Pm- Thursday 28th April

By half past twelve me and another volunteer were given the task of cleaning all of the wine glasses to then be put in the bar later on. It wasn’t the most fun job in the world but these things need doing because it’ll be the little things that the tutors look at when they mark it.

1:30 Pm- Thursday 28th April

At half past one we then helped to dress the tables, we put the linen on put the plates out with the programmes on, and set the glasses out. We then made the centerpieces to put onto the tables ad instead of using actual candles we used battery powered ones instead.

2:30 Pm- Thursday 28th April

At half two we started to decorate the stage and make sure all the certificates were written out and in the right order on the table ready to give out. We put the seating plan up and laid out all the raffle prizes on the table.

3:30 Pm- Thursday 28th April

By now all we had left to do was set the bar up and make sure all the food was being prepped for later on. The event had a signature drink to tie in with the theme and had purple sugar coated around the top of the glass with raspberries in the bottom of the glass. After all this was done all we needed to do was to clean everything else up and then we were done until seven when the guests started to arrive.

All in all this was the best event that i’ve done for work experience since i started university in September, the final year students were really happy to have us involved and were giving us tips on how to do our own event in the future, showing us their paperwork from this year and how to do certain things. It’s been a really good experience today and I wish the final year students the best of luck for tonight and hope it goes well.

Experience: 8/10

Hours earned: 4

Running total of hours earned:  13