Getting young people inspired with NCVYS

I recently added a NCVYS residential trip as one of over 30 young ENVOY members from across the country.

The theme of the residential was ‘Influencing change’ and participants attended daily sessions around this idea, including a session on ‘Youth Participation‘ and ‘Influencing Change through NCVYS Policy‘, both of which I co-facilitated.

During the trip, we got the opportunity to have some fun too, trying our hands at archery, canoeing and aeroball! A fantastic trip with some amazing young people, which has given me lots of ideas for possible projects in the future!

By Tom Robbins. Photos by Selena Brown, NCVYS

Speech at 2morro – the festival of ideas for young people

I was invited to come and give a speech at the 2morro festival which was a festival all about innovative and entrepreneurial ideas from young people.

My speech was all about the need for more ethics in the media after recently returning from the World Summit on Media for Children and Youth. My speech was all about a young martian who seemed to transformed by the media, an analogy of the effect of the media of children and young people on our planet;

”We are not alien to the media – we are all part of it.  It is up to us to help shape and invent what the media should be tomorrow.”

At the event, I was inspired by the wealth of talent and ideas amongst all those who attended.Check out some more audioboos, blogs and video about the event at Amplified.

“For the first time in history the youngest people entering the workforce are an authority on something that actually matters economically. You should use this to your own advantage.” Lucian Tarnowski

My favourite speech was from social entrepreneur, Lucian Tarnowski, who gave a very compelling presentation about the advantages of growing up in a digital age, and about the rapidity of change in how we communicate and make business.

by Tom Robbins

Inspiration: St.Martins’s Event at British Museum

A while back I helped my flat-mate with an event held at the British Museum with a BA Ceramics groups from Central St. Martins. The event was all about engaging with the history of the museum in a more interactive and engaging way and involved lots of plasticine and a giant map of the museum positioned in the large atrium space in the centre of the museum.

It was a huge success with the activity grabbing the attention of most people passing by. Participants were then asked to create something they had seen or would of liked to have seen in the museum out of plasticine and place it on the map. By the end of the day the map was crammed with an amazing array of unique and fantastical objects.

I loved how simple yet effective this project was in engaging everyone. It might of sounded like a slightly children-orientated activity, but I assure you on what I saw the parents seemed to be having an even better time than the kids!

By Tom Robbins