Pump up the volume!

February 5, 2010 – 3:51 pm

UpRiser Ekky Haque is interviewed by Channel 4 News presenter Keme Nzerem about his community campaign

The January 2010 UpRising learning session was all about how to ‘pump up the volume’ through the media. During the session practitioners ran workshops on how to get a message across through the through the press, broadcast and online media.

Channel 4 presenter Keme Nzerem ran a workshop with UpRisers on how to take part in a TV interview. UpRisers practised mock interviews with Keme and then received personalised feedback. During the workshop UpRisers also analysed real life interviews held by politicians and spokespeople in order to learn from their performances.

Demos Press Officer Beatrice Burks held a workshop on how to grasp media attention when writing a press release. Beatrice drew from her experience of translating complex Demos reports into more accessible formats to show how to communicate messages to through the media. Beatrice also gave advice on how to engage local and national media in covering a story.

mySociety Director Tom Steinberg spoke to UpRisers about how to run campaigns online. The importance of emails as a tool for engaging with supporters was highlighted by Tom. Key message: Keep it SHORT, CLEAR, FRIENDLY!

By UpRising | Posted in East London, Leadership Retreat, Media | Comments (0)

Welcome for Speaker’s Conference backing of youth and community citizenship engagement programmes

January 11, 2010 – 7:36 pm

The UpRising leadership programme has welcomed the backing by the Speaker’s Conference of youth and community citizenship engagement programmes.

The Speaker’s Conference is a committee of MPs that has been investigating how Parliament can be made more representative. In their final report today (11 January 2010) the Conference highlighted the importance of youth and citizenship programmes that directly focus on developing active citizens.

The Speaker’s Conference pointed out though that many of these organisations were small-scale and called on the Government to ensure ‘greater and more consistent access to youth and community citizenship engagement programmes’.  

Omar Salem, who leads the UpRising leadership programme at the Young Foundation, said:

“We welcome the recognition from the Speaker’s Conference of the importance of youth and community engagement programmes to strengthening Parliament and making it more representative. We hope the government, along with business and the third sector, will now take up the challenge of increasing access to these programmes.”

A number of members of the Speaker’s Conference took part in an event in March 2009 to get advice from participants of the UpRising leadership programme.  The UpRisers, who are young adults aged 19-25 years old, discussed with MPs Anne Begg, Ann Cryer, Fiona Mactaggart and Jo Swinson what could be done to make Parliament more representative and engage more young people in politics.

Omar Salem and Louise Pulford who work on the UpRising leadership programme, also gave evidence in Parliament in March 2009 to the Speaker’s Conference. They called for more efforts to develop young people’s leadership potential and to link them to opportunities to get involved in politics.

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By UpRising | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Cabinet Minister reports back to UpRisers on Copenhagen Conference

January 11, 2010 – 7:35 pm

Ed Miliband addresses the Post-Copenhagen meeting held at the QE2 Conference Centre, London 21 December 2009.

Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, reported back on the Copenhagen Climate Change conference at an event attended by UpRisers.   

On Monday 21 December 2009 a group of UpRisers attended the event at the QE2 Conference Centre, Westminster. Along with other members of the audience, they also had the opportunity to hear from Prime Minister Gordon Brown via a live feed connection, and took part in a Q&A with the PM.    Read More »

By UpRising | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Registration now open for UpRising 2010-11

January 7, 2010 – 12:08 pm

Registration to take part in the 2010-11 UpRising programme is now open. Registering is the first stage of getting a place on UpRising.

It is quick and easy to register by clicking here.

This is great opportunity for 19-25 year olds from East London who want to learn important public leadership skills, make new friends, take part in exciting events and serve the community.

By UpRising | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Leadership opportunities learning session

January 4, 2010 – 4:10 pm
Councillor Stephanie Eaton speaks to UpRisers about being a councillor

Councillor Stephanie Eaton speak to UpRisers about being a councillor

UpRisers took part in a learning session on 3 December 2009 to examine a range of different opportunities for public leadership and service.

During a series of roundtable discussions, UpRisers questioned a number of public leaders about their roles. Cllr Stephanie Eaton, Leader of the Liberal Democrat group of Tower Hamlets councillors spoke about her work representing constituents in the Town Hall; and UpRising graduate Seye Odukogbe described his enjoyment of being a governor at Sarah Bonnell School in Stratford, Newham.

The participants also heard from UpRising graduates Hollie Ridley and Ahmed Shazad. Hollie Ridley spoke about her volunteering at Abbey Children’s Centre and Ahmed Shazad explained his roles as a trustee of Student Action for Refugees and as a member of the Big Lottery Fund’s awarding panel for myplace.

The session, held at Oxford House, Bethnal Green, was facilitated entirely by a group of UpRisers. Tahera Begum, Komal Chokski, Aude Loreau, Farah Mohammoud, Susannah Ngoke and Charles Onyeacholem took responsibility for running the learning session from beginning to end – and did a fantastic job!

Click here to view photos of the learning session.

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By UpRising | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

UpRising Meetup with speed networking

December 9, 2009 – 12:52 pm

Oyin Akiniyi introduces speed networking at the UpRising Meetup

UpRising held a Meetup with a speed networking session led by UpRiser Oyin Akiniyi on 24 November 2009. UpRisers Le Ho, Farah Mohammoud and Natasha Shaikh also spoke at the event about their activities on the programme. 

The social gathering, held at St Margaret’s House, Bethnal Green, was an opportunity for current UpRisers, UpRising graduates, mentors, the UpRising team, and supporters of the programme to catch up. 

Click here to see photos of the event.

By UpRising | Posted in East London, Meet Up, Meet the UpRisers, Networking Event, Tower Hamlets | Comments (0)

Who runs this place?

December 8, 2009 – 7:49 am

Rushanara Ali, Peter Kellner and Geoff Mulgan discussing power with the UpRisers

Power was the subject of the UpRising learning session held on 12 November 2009. UpRisers explored what the idea of ‘power’ means and the current power dynamics in the UK. They also discussed different types of power and the importance of values to responsible use of power.

Speakers at the learning session included Peter Kellner, former Political Analyst for Newsnight and now President of polling company YouGov, and Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation. The discussion was chaired by Young Foundation Associate Director Rushanara Ali.

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By UpRising | Posted in Learning Session | Comments (0)

UpRisers facilitate a chain reaction

December 7, 2009 – 5:58 pm

UpRiser Sahera Abbasi facilitating a group discussion at Chain Reaction

A group of UpRisers and UpRising graduates took part in Chain Reaction 2009, an event that brought together social leaders, community activists, policy makers, business leaders, and young people from the UK and beyond to share learning and to generate new ideas for social change, locally and globally.    

The team of 13 UpRisers and UpRising graduates facilitated roundtable discussion at a session on “New Ideas for Engaging Communities in Social Change”. Speakers at the session included; Martha Lane Fox, Chair of the Digital Inclusion Task Force, Liam Byrne MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Mary Rhead-Corr, Executive Director, United Bank of Carbon, and Catherine Sermon, National Community Impact Director, Business in the Community.  This session was led by Simon Burall, Director of Involve, and was attended by participants from a plethora of different sectors and backgrounds. The discussions facilitated by the UpRisers centred on why community engagement was important and what works in community engagement.  Read More »

By UpRising | Posted in East London, Learning Visit, UpRising graduates | Comments (0)

Muna Hassan speaks at Chain Reaction 2009 on campaigning

December 7, 2009 – 5:29 pm

UpRising graduate Muna Hassan spoke at Chain Reaction 2009 on campaigning

UpRising graduate Muna Hassan spoke at a workshop on ‘Campaigning for Social Change’ as part of Chain Reaction 2009. The workshop brought together experts from the world of campaigning to share what works, and to answer questions about how to take campaigns forward. Along with Muna participants included Maeve McGoldrick of the Need not Greed campaign, Liam Barrington-Bush, NCVO and the DCLG Young Advisors.         

Muna spoke about her campaigning to raise awareness about the drug ‘khat’. This is a stimulant made from fresh leaves of the Catha Edulis shrub, which is used recreationally by many people from migrant communities. Muna started her campaign while a participant on the UpRising leadership programme in response to the personal effects that khat had on her own family. The drug is currently legal and can be bought over shop counters by people as young as 12. Muna is calling for a public health campaign to raise awareness about this drug and push for a legislative change.        

Commenting on the event Muna Hassan said:    

“It was great pleasure to take part in an event that brings so many different people together and it was even greater to be invited as speaker. I gave a talk about the importance of campaigning in relation to my campaign and the need for younger people to campaign about issues that matter to them.  It was also a great opportunity to raise the profile on my Khat-Alert campaign to a wider audience.”    

  Read More »

By UpRising | Posted in Community Campaign, Meet the UpRisers | Comments (0)

Building a team

December 7, 2009 – 5:28 pm
Aretousa and Mary introduce organisational meetings

UpRisers took part in a learning session on 22 October 2009 that included training on how to set up and run organisational meetings. 

Organisational meetings allow individuals to share their concerns and come together to work together. They are useful when developing campaigns to build new relationships and shared understandings between a group, and produce commitments to specific next steps.

UpRisers also presented their initial community campaign plans at the learning session, and received constructive feedback from each other.

Click here to see photos of the learning session.

By UpRising | Posted in East London, Learning Session | Comments (0)