AIM 2009

Hey all, hope you're keeping well,

Enjoy this quick update from the CISV AIM Plenary, including finding out who your new IJR is! 

Love, Lou n Jam xx

IJBC over, AIM begins

Hey all, hows your summers going?

So IJBC is over now, finishing yesterday, and AIM officially began this morning.

For a full rundown on what went down at IJBC check out IJBClive on the link below in the last blog. You'll also find links to videos of people and things that went on (including a star appearance from our own James).

What do we think? Well, it's flown by been absolutely packed, and an absolutely great chance to work with and hang out with other JBers. We think it's an awesome opportunity to get to see JB and CISV at work, and we really hope you'll come with us to Germany next year!

What now? So we're continuing to work on the Wild West Weekend, which will happen next March, as well as preparing workshops and trainings for NJBF in September (see you over 16s!)

Lastly, Soliman from Egypt, who has kindly lent me his computer to do this, says hi. If you have the luck to meet him, he's a good guy.

Catch up soon with AIM news (I'm sure Nic and Laura say hi too - they're currently sat in the plenary - room where everybody sits and discusses!)

Love, Jam (& Lou)

IJBC 2009 #1

Hello hello, we hope you enjoy watching as much as we enjoyed making!

You can find the blog at: http://ijbclive2009.wordpress.com/

And more info at www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki and then follow the links!

Hope you`re all pleasant. Lou and Jam (from the lovely Guate) xx

NJBF First Letter!

EJBM 2009 (the rest)

Hey guys!

Really sorry that while the last thing that was said was 'keep checking', we didn't keep our end of the deal, and keep posting. However if you were with us at EJBM then you'd soon find out why! The days are jam-packed with sessions and activities, and it was hard to find a time to stop! Apologies anyway... but what's news then?

Well, perhaps the biggest challenge for this EJBM was approving the revised Terms of Reference, drawn up by the EJB Team and some others, to accommodate last year’s decision to have an EJB team rather than individual ReCos and PeCos (Regional coordinators, and PA coordinators), as well as bringing other sections up to date with what we actually do. The ToR until 2008 can be viewed at http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/EJB_TOR and hopefully it will be updated soon!

Also, we happily congratulate Zé Baptista (Portugal) and Paul Hinterberger (Germany) for being elected to the EJB Team, to join Camilla and Louise, who will make a brilliant team in the upcoming year. We also give huge thanks to outgoing Laura, but especially Nic, who has served two difficult years in EJB! We’re really lucky to have him for 3 more years here in GB.

You can check out the new team at http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/EJB_Team

Another new and exciting thing this year was the creation of Neighbourhoods, and we were happy to finally meet with the rest of the old ‘South-West Neighbourhood’, now renamed the Wild West! Check it out at: http://www.ijb.cisv.org/mwiki/index.php/Wild_West_Neighbourhood

Very excitingly however, GB has proposed to host the first ever Wild West Weekend! Its aim is to bring together juniors (16+) of our Neighbourhood, to get to know each other, in a social context so that they are comfortable with each other, and may look to work together in the future. This weekend would also provide a space for trainings and workshops, as well as a chance for the leaders within the JBs (such as NJRs) to meet and work on other projects. All details have yet to be decided, but watch this space!

The last main news is that EJBM 2010 will be hosted by the Netherlands, so already we are looking forward to more good times!

We can't wait to share with you guys some of the plans we've made, ideas we've had, skills we learnt, workshops and sessions we attended, so make sure you catch us at NJBF in september, S.M.I.L.E. in October!

Much love, James (and Ryan and Fliss more or less) :)

EJBM 2009 (Day 1)

Hey all!

This is coming to you from Graz, Austria where James, along with Ryan and Fliss are currently at EJBM (European Junior Branch Meeting), a 5-day meeting for all the Junior Branches in Europe to come and share what they've been up to, learn from each other, attend trainings and workshops, and also make decisions about our region (Europe). 

Here's a quick video about what we've been up to - keep checking for more posts for the rest of the week! Enjoy...

17+

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