Coming to you again from a train, James is coming back from 17+ weekend!
I must admit, I'm pretty tired by now, but very very happy having spent a great weekend with some great people at Hebden Hey, for the Seventeen Plus weekend.
This is the first weekend of its kind ever done in GB, the only thing like it being an 18+ weekend in 2004. A group of about 20 people got together from every branch in GB, plus some special visitors from further afield (Germans living in GB), and we had a pretty chilled out weekend of lots of interesting thinking and fun activity. With an appearance from a Wonky Donky, and a collective realisation of our facebook dependence, we talked a lot about the theme, 'the Internet' and also more widely about the media.
The idea of a 17+ was for juniors who often get very involved in running events and activities, to come away together for a weekend and relax and have some CISV fun for themselves, to motivate and encourage them. Good times were had, with especial thanks to the brilliant 'not-staff-just-people-in-a-position-of-vague-responsibility-team', Laura Green, Jess Wanless and Helen Russell!
Where now for Team NJR? Well, in 2 weeks is the GB National Council meeting in Manchester, and James and Louisa are currently preparing some things for that. Check up in two weeks to see what happened!
With much love,
James & Louisa
Sunday 22 February 2009
Friday 20 February 2009
From a train... (Year 9/10/11 & Other news)
This is reaching you via the wireless on the train between Cambridge and Leeds.
That's right, James is on his 6th train so far this year, heading back to West Yorkshire for the 17+ Weekend. I will also now stop referring to myself in the 3rd person.
So I'm looking forward to this weekend, but what happened last weekend? That's right, the Year 9/10/11 weekend, in Bramhope. 14 people in those years joined us, along with 5/6 staff, for a weekend of fun and discovery.
The theme was nature, which meant we thought a bit about the environment and our responsibility, and this also involved a little bit of running around outside! Definitely not muddy. The group also got a chance to come up with their own activities, and most exciting of all, this minicamp is where we decide to have a GB JB Theme for the next year in JB! The reason for this is that many people felt at NJBF (see below) that a theme would help Junior Branches focus and plan better activities, so I am happy to announce that the theme for the coming year will be... *drum roll*
"Labels"!!!
Have fun thinking about that, and we look forward to lots of great activities and events to do with that!
All in all, the group got on very well, and we look forward to seeing you all again next year. Many many HUGE thanks to our staff team, especially Louise and Rich from North East, who totally made this weekend. Thanks to Simon for a lot of the organisation, and Dan and Dom from Leeds for stepping in late on.
In other news, well there isn't much that Louisa hasn't told you from NJBF below, but at NJBF, it was our pleasure to reveal the new CISV logo, so here it is, in all its glory! :
Look forward to another post soon, after this 17+ Weekend!
Tuesday 3 February 2009
NJBF and the IJR Candidates!
Word up everyone.
It's early on a Tuesday morning and I'm trying to have a productive day - this being the beginnings of it! How are you all? Good weekend? For those of you that didn't have the pleasure of being there, last weekend was NJBF! It was awesome! A small but perfectly formed group. For those of you that don't know, NJBF is the National Junior Branch Forum, a working weekend for those 16+ in GBJB. It happens twice a year, in Feb and September and is where we elect our officers for the year - the treasurer, secretary and the new NJR! (that happens in September at the AGM - Annual General Meeting) But this weekend was just for general GBJB development really. As a consequence, we have some really big plans for GBJB!
So here's a bit of a preview of what happened in the weekend, and the new calendar that will come in to effect..now!
Our 4 new goals that we're going to be working towards:
Improve national cooperation, through more national events and camps
One of the things that was highlighted over the weekend was that we could do with more communication between our own branches to make us stronger. It was decided that need more social events, which could be an informal gathering or something more structured. They would take place in other points of the year, not just around winter. One thought was having a national camp in the summer - an NYM if you like! This would take place over a week and would allow people who weren't able to go on a international camp a chance to do something in GB!
Certain tasks have been assigned to all these, but I'm not going to include them here, but get in touch if you're interested in any of them!
Ensure quality and thorough training, empowering people to take leadership responsibilities and incorporate educational principles of CISV.
We found many branches feel that the quality of JB meetings suffer from lack of focus, and lack of training by those that lead it. Ways of addressing this included: workshops for each chapter, starting with the educational circle and corresponding activities; an advanced training workshop, incorporated into S.M.I.L.E. or even a separate event; and the possiblity of standardised national educational themes, to give direction and focus.
Improve international cooperation, through increased contact, communication and participation in weekends.
Other JBs can be massively helpful for support and information so we should make better use of tools such as JB Community and JB Faces. We should aim to send more people to IJB events, and also begin to host more to gain more information about how JBs are run internationlly which may help strengthen us!
Build a clear, efficient and accessible system for the smooth running of GBJB.
For things to run efficiently and smoothly, people need to be aware of what they need to do/their role, what is actually going on, and how to use all simple channels of communication. Soo, from now on LJRs need to follow LJR-7, and train others to follow in their footsteps, the secretary needs to build a functional, full, perfect contact list, using lists taken from all branches in September, Leadership Training, 17/18+ and NJBF, and also train protégé, Strategic planning of following year: Minicamps, themes, jobs, identification and delegation of tasks should occur, MSN (LJR) Chats should have an agenda, and be productive.
We also had some nice working groups for the progression of GBJB!
They came in the form of:
Merchandise who are looking at: beanie hats, belts, shoe laces, folders, files, notebooks, passport holders, guitar strap, PILLOW CASES, sponge bag, scarf, stickers, pin badges, pyjamas. But we will continue in all possible areas to continue with Fairtrade products! There's now a lovely team of merchandise peeps for GBJB.
National Fundraiser - The Duck Race which will involve racing ducks down a river! Excellent. Watch this space. National Casino Night! Held in one city, annually!
Pantomime - this is a work in progress, but watch this spaaace!
The creation of a national songbook! Yes that's right - this will happen soon.
Online Branch - An online resource for other JBs, as main demographic will be experienced CISVers, age range around 18-25, that have moved but are still enthusiastic. Again a work in progress - but watch this space!
JB Calendar 2009-10 (and for future use)
June
20th National Council AGM
July
Happy summer times..
August
IJBC and AIM in Guatemala!
September
4th -6th NJBF AGM
19th NJB Day, in Manchester/North East (earlier, to coincide with International Peace Day)
October
3rd National Council
16th-18th S.M.I.L.E. [JB Training]
November
6th-8th Year 7/8 and possibly year 9/10 - yea that's right! Together but seperate..hmm!
27th-29th 16/17/18+? - possibilites are endless here!
December
5th National Council
January
29th-31st Year 9/10, failing November.
February
26th-28th NJBF - THIS IS DIFFERENT! Pay attention kids!
JB Neighbourhood Weekend - again, watch this space.
March
6th National Council
18+ Social event, first weekend of Easter break.
End - Leadership Training
April
EJBM Easter weekend
May
Exams and shizzle..
June
National Council AGM
July
Suummmer!
August
Mmm BBQs
So that was NJBF! Whoa - lots of reading there! Very exciting and productive though.
The other part of exciting news that has happened over the weekend is that the IJR (International Junior Representative) candidates have been announced! That's right, IJB (International Junior Branch) has spoken, and the four candidates that will be competing for the spot of the IJR in the summer are...
- Alex Neuman;
- Chris Settle;
- Juanma Oviedo and
- Rowan El Shimi
So have a check out of their JBPedia pages to find out who they are!
http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/Alex_Neuman
http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/Chris_Settle
http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/Juanma_Oviedo
http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/Rowan_El_Shimi
And that's all for now folks, I'll be back soon though - don't worry!
xx
It's early on a Tuesday morning and I'm trying to have a productive day - this being the beginnings of it! How are you all? Good weekend? For those of you that didn't have the pleasure of being there, last weekend was NJBF! It was awesome! A small but perfectly formed group. For those of you that don't know, NJBF is the National Junior Branch Forum, a working weekend for those 16+ in GBJB. It happens twice a year, in Feb and September and is where we elect our officers for the year - the treasurer, secretary and the new NJR! (that happens in September at the AGM - Annual General Meeting) But this weekend was just for general GBJB development really. As a consequence, we have some really big plans for GBJB!
So here's a bit of a preview of what happened in the weekend, and the new calendar that will come in to effect..now!
Our 4 new goals that we're going to be working towards:
Improve national cooperation, through more national events and camps
One of the things that was highlighted over the weekend was that we could do with more communication between our own branches to make us stronger. It was decided that need more social events, which could be an informal gathering or something more structured. They would take place in other points of the year, not just around winter. One thought was having a national camp in the summer - an NYM if you like! This would take place over a week and would allow people who weren't able to go on a international camp a chance to do something in GB!
Certain tasks have been assigned to all these, but I'm not going to include them here, but get in touch if you're interested in any of them!
Ensure quality and thorough training, empowering people to take leadership responsibilities and incorporate educational principles of CISV.
We found many branches feel that the quality of JB meetings suffer from lack of focus, and lack of training by those that lead it. Ways of addressing this included: workshops for each chapter, starting with the educational circle and corresponding activities; an advanced training workshop, incorporated into S.M.I.L.E. or even a separate event; and the possiblity of standardised national educational themes, to give direction and focus.
Improve international cooperation, through increased contact, communication and participation in weekends.
Other JBs can be massively helpful for support and information so we should make better use of tools such as JB Community and JB Faces. We should aim to send more people to IJB events, and also begin to host more to gain more information about how JBs are run internationlly which may help strengthen us!
Build a clear, efficient and accessible system for the smooth running of GBJB.
For things to run efficiently and smoothly, people need to be aware of what they need to do/their role, what is actually going on, and how to use all simple channels of communication. Soo, from now on LJRs need to follow LJR-7, and train others to follow in their footsteps, the secretary needs to build a functional, full, perfect contact list, using lists taken from all branches in September, Leadership Training, 17/18+ and NJBF, and also train protégé, Strategic planning of following year: Minicamps, themes, jobs, identification and delegation of tasks should occur, MSN (LJR) Chats should have an agenda, and be productive.
We also had some nice working groups for the progression of GBJB!
They came in the form of:
Merchandise who are looking at: beanie hats, belts, shoe laces, folders, files, notebooks, passport holders, guitar strap, PILLOW CASES, sponge bag, scarf, stickers, pin badges, pyjamas. But we will continue in all possible areas to continue with Fairtrade products! There's now a lovely team of merchandise peeps for GBJB.
National Fundraiser - The Duck Race which will involve racing ducks down a river! Excellent. Watch this space. National Casino Night! Held in one city, annually!
Pantomime - this is a work in progress, but watch this spaaace!
The creation of a national songbook! Yes that's right - this will happen soon.
Online Branch - An online resource for other JBs, as main demographic will be experienced CISVers, age range around 18-25, that have moved but are still enthusiastic. Again a work in progress - but watch this space!
JB Calendar 2009-10 (and for future use)
June
20th National Council AGM
July
Happy summer times..
August
IJBC and AIM in Guatemala!
September
4th -6th NJBF AGM
19th NJB Day, in Manchester/North East (earlier, to coincide with International Peace Day)
October
3rd National Council
16th-18th S.M.I.L.E. [JB Training]
November
6th-8th Year 7/8 and possibly year 9/10 - yea that's right! Together but seperate..hmm!
27th-29th 16/17/18+? - possibilites are endless here!
December
5th National Council
January
29th-31st Year 9/10, failing November.
February
26th-28th NJBF - THIS IS DIFFERENT! Pay attention kids!
JB Neighbourhood Weekend - again, watch this space.
March
6th National Council
18+ Social event, first weekend of Easter break.
End - Leadership Training
April
EJBM Easter weekend
May
Exams and shizzle..
June
National Council AGM
July
Suummmer!
August
Mmm BBQs
So that was NJBF! Whoa - lots of reading there! Very exciting and productive though.
The other part of exciting news that has happened over the weekend is that the IJR (International Junior Representative) candidates have been announced! That's right, IJB (International Junior Branch) has spoken, and the four candidates that will be competing for the spot of the IJR in the summer are...
- Alex Neuman;
- Chris Settle;
- Juanma Oviedo and
- Rowan El Shimi
So have a check out of their JBPedia pages to find out who they are!
http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/Alex_Neuman
http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/Chris_Settle
http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/Juanma_Oviedo
http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/Rowan_El_Shimi
And that's all for now folks, I'll be back soon though - don't worry!
xx
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