Giving to get in return

Over the last year a new innovative project has come to my attention that being Orange RockCorps. The idea behind the project is to get young people to volunteer for four hours to help out with a project that benefits the community in return for getting a ticket to a special concert only for Orange RockCorps volunteers headlined by some of the most popular and biggest musical acts.

I am a huge fan of big companies like Orange giving back and getting involved with helping the community and young people. Mobile phones are so important to young people and its great to see them using that influence they have with young people to get them involved in volunteering. I think every commercial company that sells product and services to young people should be doing something to give back to them.

The one thing I hope is that the Orange RockCorps experience encourages the young people that volunteer with the project to continue volunteering after their four hours commitment is over. The principal behind volunteering is to do something selflessly for other people without expecting a reward so there are some issues with this project.

The problem comes when the young person who volunteers with Orange Rock Corps then goes to do more volunteering and expects to get something in return where that charity or organization may not be able to afford to reward their volunteers no matter how much they might want to. Some people may not even get involved in volunteering expecting a reward they may instead not even apply to be a volunteer without a guarantee of a reward.

The other problem is if the young person is just doing the volunteering for the ticket and don’t get anything out of the experience or have any intention of volunteering again after the project. However if they never planned to volunteer regardless of the project if we can get four hours out of them is that better than nothing some may argue.

I think projects which encourage young people to volunteer and get more people involved in volunteering are great and much needed. Projects like Orange RockCorps need to be careful though. I know Orange RockCorps do work to try and help people to continue with their volunteering but if you give people a big reward after just four hours what is there to encourage them to continue to keep involved.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Appreciation

Actress Kate Winslet has been grabbing the headlines this week for her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes after winning two awards. Her gushing acceptance speech in which she forgot the name of fellow nominee Angelina Jolie has been seen the world over and it got me thinking about my topic for the blog this week – Appreciation.

To achieve great things in life we need a strong support group around us whether that be family, friends or colleagues. These people can help you in many ways from doing small jobs for you to save you time to focus n your goal to helping you improve in certain areas of your life or your talent.

The most important thing family, friends and colleagues give is their emotional support. When you are feeling down they pick you up and when you are doing well it is their encouragement which spurs you on and makes it all worthwhile. These people are there to offer support and advice when you need it the most and to offer it from a point of view which is one of wanting you to succeed. It is their love and belief in you and knowing that you have their love and belief which helps you handle going in to interviews, auditions or trials when they can’t physically be in the room with you, when you are alone or when it all rests on your shoulders.

When you are trying to achieve your dream some of your support network may put their life on hold for you or at least rearrange all their plans so they can help you. This is why it is so important that you show them everyday that you appreciate them. You may not be able to thank them on TV with millions of people watching but you need to find ways in which to know they are appreciated. Some people may not help you if they don’t feel appreciated but most will help you without the need of being appreciated however this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t show them that you appreciate them. Showing you appreciate someone can really make their day and help inspire them in their own life.

So go out and make someone’s day go and show them that you appreciate them.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com