JCI London's blog | Read the latest updates here

Annual Dinner on the River Thames.

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:42:43 +0000

On the 3rd of February everyone came together to celebrate the achievements of JCI London throughout 2011 under the leadership of local president Sarah Beckwith.

The masquerade themed evening began with a welcome drink and then the boat set of on its cruise down the river Thames, taking in such sights as the Houses of Parliament and Tower Bridge.

As guests sat down to enjoy their dinner MC Ian Johnson oversaw proceedings. We had words from our international guests who had travelled to London to be here for this event, demonstrating the strong links between JCI London and its twin chambers. Sarah introduced her awards to JCI London members, recognising their achievements in 2011. Nadene Jones, President of JCI Ignite, was presented with a gift of the chain of office. Nadene and other members have worked tirelessly to establish a new JCI chamber in London. As Sarah and JCI UK 2012 National President, Solveig Malvik, presented Nadene with the gift Sarah received a surprise award of her own. As she read the inscription on the back of Nadene's chain she read her own senatorship number! A lovely moment as Solveig presented Sarah with her JCI senatorship.

After dinner entertainment was provided by after dinner speaker Ola Aralepo who was very amusing. As 2012 JCI London President Simon Bucknall pointed out no one minded the February Freeze as they enjoyed the celebration. Of course, the dinner culminated in Simon being presented with his chain of office and being inaugarated as JCI London President 2012. Simon was particularly taken with the feeling of optimism evident on the night as JCI London heads into 2012.

Active Citizen Meet - time to take action!!!

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:30:38 +0000

The community team has landed! well the start of a team at least. The JCI London Community team had our first meeting on Wednesday 8 Febuary, the discussions centred on what is it we want to achieve and how are we going to achieve it.

There was a healthy dose of realism added in there, as we tried to get to grips with what we meant by community and then how on earth we communicate this to other JCI members to get them all excited and motivated to help us achieve this years vision. There was an excited flow of ideas after this Community Director, Soraya set out her aims and objectives and invited our input. There is clearly already a lot planned and in full motion so look out for some fun easy things that you can get involved in and make a difference in the world with hardly any effort.

Here’s a taste of some of the ideas that we talked through at the meeting:

• International projects specifically a community development project lead by a JCI Member??? You have to come to the team meetings to find out more!!

• Projects tackling health inequalities linking into the Nothing But Nets campaign

• Charity fundraising

• Volunteering opportunities with local organisations

• Environmental clean up day

• JCI members as inspirational leaders and role models for vulnerable young people by continuing and improving our 'Go For It' project

There were a few strong themes that came through the discussions:

1. A clear focus that whatever we do it benefits JCI members and tap into their thirst for self development, learning and leadership.

2. The community team wants to be seen as moe than just the charitable side to JCI but rather we going back to our roots of our mission and vision statements and impacting at a local level.

Mission:

To provide development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change'

Vision:

'To be the leading global network of young active citizens'

We feel passionately about embedding social values into all that JCI London does, this means we want to work closely with all of the JCI areas of opportunity and see how we can all make a difference. There are some clear challenges that we are going to face, with some members not from London, people’s orginal connection to their local community is often not there, we need to try to help members connect at a local level. The team is full of passionate individuals who have a background in business and community work and we are determined to make this year the best that JCI London has had for creating a positive and lasting social impact. Can you stand up the challenge- Learn business skills, leadership and do good in the process- join us!!!

To find out more contact Soraya Bowen and book to attend our next meeting

'Change the world today'

Lucy Wood-Community Team Member

Happy New Year !!!

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:20:58 +0000

The year begins for me on 1st February and marks the start of the great work JCI London Community team needs to do to make an impact in our communities on a local, national and global level.
January has flown by with the planning and thinking behind how we (JCI members) tackle the problems we see in the world the today-a HUGE task!!! Which leads onto my anthem for this year for when I start feel my drive and passion being challenged and I will play this song, check out the lyrics and you will see why.

My anthem for 2012 is: Alicia Keys 'Superwoman'

The most important goal for me is about how I can engage and enable members to turn their ‘PASSION INTO ACTION’ and impact our communities at a local level. Well, Inspiration Day really helped me to put my vision and plan of action together; our keynote speaker Noam Kostucki imparted two key messages which I call ‘golden nuggets’ which have helped me to clarify ideas and plans for the year.

The first idea was about how you communicate your vision, is not to talk about the vision instead visualise the vision, so we had to draw our vision for the year and share it with other people in the room. It was interesting and fun trying to decipher people's vision from some very interesting pictures.See if you can guess what my vision for the community in 2012 below, I have used images from the web to make it a little bit easier. Please leave your comments or why not come along to our first community meeting to find out more.

JCI Community Team vision for 2012- Can you guess my vision is for the year?

The second 'golden nugget' was the six days of 10-30 minutes of action you need to take that will move you towards your vision or goal. Noam used the analogy of the world being created in seven days and on the seventh day you rest and review your week to see what has worked and which actions were not productive and then plan for the next six days. Well since inspiration day I have been using this method and it really works, I have managed to produce the outline for about four blogs as well as get members to write blogs as well. To find out more please come along to our team meeting on Wednesday 8 February and Tuesday 21 February to find out more. However if you are unable to come to a meeting please do email me to discuss opportunities avaialbe.

Soraya Bowen Community Director

Spidergap entrepreneurs share their lessons learned as an online start-up

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 06:38:48 +0000

JCI invited Spidergap® entrepreneurs Alexis Kingsbury and Paddy Mann to present and discuss their lessons learned at a recent evening event attended by over 40 JCI London members and guests. Attendees have said that this was a highly informative and inspirational talk, covering the presenters’ experiences from deciding to set up through to their exciting current activities - tweaking the solution and model to turn a great idea into a great money-making business.

Alexis and Paddy are the creators and owners of Spidergap® - an easy to use online tool for gap analysis (gap analysis works by comparing two views - for example 'where we are at' and 'where we want to be; the results allow you to prioritise actions and measure improvement). They also run a management consultancy as a way of funding their goal of creating scalable products (such as Spidergap) that will support their shared vision of a better quality of life.

Paddy and Alex presenting some of their lessons learned from starting an online business. You can watch a video with highlights from the first 20 minutes.

The presentation, for which we've captured video highlights from the first 20 minutes, used the results of a gap analysis to highlight the stages and major steps of creating, running and optimising their business - in this case comparing how well they believe they're doing against how they were doing in May 2010 when the company was founded.

Paddy and Alex reviewed their own performance as a start-up. You can view these results or try the assessment . Contact paddy@spidergap.com if you would like to use a similar assessment yourself.

They started the company with a shared vision on what they wanted to achieve, something they believe has served them well. Quoting Paddy, "in the second year we found we were making a lot less money… but we knew what we were trying to do – this was the right tool, we were heading in the right direction".

They then looked at each area in turn, with varying reviews of their performance! As the Spidergraph shows, they have managed to optimise their tools and processes, yet monetizing success is an area where they are performing less well now than they did at the start. They reflected on receiving over 1000 unique visitors every day, yet failing to convert these to paying customers – so far. A solid understanding of the path a customer needs to take, along with statistics highlighting where they need to improve, gives them a base on which to prioritise changes and turn Spidergap into a money making product.

Interested in more? You can…

· Watch video highlights of the first 20 minutes

· Check out their gap analysis results

· Try their assessment

· Contact paddy@spidergap.com if you would like to use a similar assessment yourself (perhaps changing it to compare your current performance with where you would like to be in 6 months)

· Contact alex@spidergap.com or paddy@spidergap.com for more information on the talk, for feedback on your own ideas, or for any more information about their product or services.

· Visit the Spidergap homepage

If you have other interesting ideas for projects and topics you would like to see or take forward as part of the JCI London business team please email here: JCI London Business Director

Fantastic After Dinner Speaker Confirmed for JCI London Annual Dinner

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:03:29 +0000

You have just a few days left to sign up to the highlight of the JCI London social calendar - our annual dinner on 3 February.

A night of fabulous food, company and entertainment aboard the Golden Jubilee Boat. As well as the usual evening's festivities of the Presidential Inauguration, JCI London Awards and speeches by three JCI Presidents, we now have a brilliant after dinner speaker confirmed - see Ola Aralepo's biography below. All this followed by dancing the night away in a nearby club!

Tickets are selling fast at just £65 for a welcome drink, three course meal, half a bottle of wine and the evening's entertainment aboard the Golden Jubilee. Don't miss out - sign up now at www.jcilondonannualdinnner.eventbrite.com

Speaker's Bio

A shy and self-conscious sort just five short years ago, Ola Aralepo has emerged as one of the most exciting young entertaining speakers in the UK.

In Glasgow last autumn, he 'out-humoured' hundreds of fellow speakers to be crowned UK & Ireland Champion of Humorous Speaking by Toastmasters International.

A public speaking coach and trainer by day - stand-up comedian by night - Ola tries to make sense of the human condition in a spirit of love and irreverence. As we go to press, he is a Quarter-Finalist for the Laughing Horse 'New Act Of The Year', a prestigious competition which has yielded the likes of Rod Gilbert and Jack Whitehall.

Meanwhile, at weekends, Ola is a transport worker - where he simply tells people where to go.

JCI London 2011 - What A Year!

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:07:06 +0000

It has been another amazing year for JCI London. Here are just some of the highlights:

Hosting more than 100 local events covering all areas of opportunity (on average more than 2 per week!)
Raising over £300 for Nothing But Nets via events such as Penny Poker, the pub quiz, Loch Ness Marathon and the Penny Jar, in addition to buying over 20 bed nets direct for trainers/speakers...i.e. over 50 lives saved in Africa
Launching a new website with blog, which has over 90 posts
JCI London gaining over 2000 fans on the Facebook fan page and over 350 followers to the twitter account
Having a very active council of 18 members, with many JCI London members also being active on National Board (and the same set to continue in 2012).
Over 70 new members joining in 2011
Large delegations of 12 members attending European Conference in Tarragona and 18 at World Congress in Brussels
Introduction of Roundtable format business events, giving members intimate access to business leaders, willing to share their personal stories and advice in small group discussions
Successful Go For It! event running again in May, with TOYP winner Sabirul Islam as keynote speaker
Three members being recognised for their volunteering activities via the JCI UK ACE (Active Citizen Experience) scheme
Representation at the Staines Memorial in Staines in June and the JCI Belgium Staines Award service in December
Live Like a Londoner Twinning Weekend with attendees from four out of our five twin chambers experiencing the hidden gems of life in London
JCI London being represented at pretty much every international event possible, including the European Academy, ASPAC, Crayfish Conference, UN Summit, Know-How Transfer, Americas Conference, European Capitals Meeting and Beat of Berlin
Hosting of three official JCI courses (Presenter, Trainer and Achieve), plus many members graduating from courses in other locations
JCI London members taking part in all major national events, including inspiration day, the marketing academy, presidents and deputies day and national convention
Organisation of the first JCI UK South Leadership Academy with 11 London graduates
Having entrants in the JCI UK National Public Speaking, Debating and Extempore competitions
Establishing a new chamber - JCI Ignite London (official launch on 16 February)
Being awarded five National Awards/Certificates of Merit
Awarding two senatorships - Tina Strack & Solveig Malvik
JCI London being 100% efficient!

Thank you to all those who have contributed to and supported the chamber in 2011. Please do come along and help us celebrate at the Annual Dinner on 3 February: http://jcilondonannualdinner.eventbrite.co.uk/

Want to get involved and make it happen in 2012? You can find out more at our meet the council event on 17 January: http://www.jcilondon.org.uk/events/2012-01-17/350-meet-the-2012-council-and-how-to-get-involved/

Past Present Future

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:45:45 +0000

It has become a tradition for JCI London to have an event where the current and future council come together with our past presidents and senators. This year a total of 23 past and present members (among them 10 past presidents and 13 senators) convened at Chez Gerard on the Southbank for an evening of great food, company and conversation.

The event is a chance for attendees to exchange knowledge, experience and ideas across the generations. Anyone who is a senator or who has been a president of the chamber will retain a keen interest in our activities and it is great to be able to build relationships and connections, not to mention being able to tap into their wealth of knowledge!

We were lucky to have many esteemed members and senators among us on the night and after hearing from the current council (me) and future council (Deputy President Simon Bucknall), National President elect Solveig Malvik, Past National President Barry Miller and International Vice President Lesley Young also shared their thoughts.

The highlight of the evening for me was the awarding of a senatorship to 2007 JCI London President Tina Strack. A senatorship is a life-long membership of JCI awarded only to those who have made an outstanding contribution in their years of membership. Tina was suitably shocked by, but incredibly deserving of her award.

Tina was instrumental in the reinvigoration of JCI London, taking on the role of president shortly after moving to the UK and having already been president of JCI Vancouver. Using her knowledge of JCI from Vancouver, Tina set up processes to ensure the smooth running of the chamber. She implemented new ideas such as a newsletter and monthly chamber meetings, which gradually built the number of active members. The chamber would not be where it is today without Tina's energy, enthusiasm and team spirit in her year as president.

Thank you to all our past presidents and senators for their continuing support of the chamber and making this year's event such as success!

JCI London Senators

Going Underground...

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:29:12 +0000

The last JCI London business visit of the year took a group of dedicated members to a West London Underground depot on a freezing December Friday morning at 8.30am, but boy was it worth it. Living in West London, I had no idea that there was a huge manufacturing facility just 15 minutes walk from my house.

The work the team do there is simply incredible. When an ˝emergency˝ occurs somewhere on the network, i.e. something that could cause major delays or line closure, the team at the depot can manufacture a replacement part in just 12 hours, something that would take a commercial company 12 weeks. The team deals with on average three such emergencies every week!

From the smallest sign to the largest rail junction, they are all manufactured on site. There were machines for all types of processes (some invented and built on site!) and the skills of the workers there were obviously varied and complex.

Everyone on the tour was left gobsmacked by the fascinating facts about and enormity of the task of taking care of London's tube system. For example did you know...?

The London Underground was built by American mobsters in order to launder money.
There are over 900km of track on the London Underground and each kilometre is walked by a member of the London Underground team checking for faults every 48 hours!
The majority of day-to-day repairs and maintenance have to be done in a window of just four hours overnight between the last and first trains. This includes the time it takes to walk the engineers and all their equipment to and from the site of repair between stations, often over a mile.

A huge thank you to our guide Dave Banks and Business Director Simon Bucknall for organising such a unique and captivating visit!

Meet our Members - Tina Strack

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:18:23 +0000

This week we meet Tina Strack, JCI London President 2007 and one of our newest senators.

Why did you join JCI? I joined JCI because a friend from Uni was a member and told me about it. He and I were both members of fraternities at University and he explained it to me as being quite similar so I thought it would be a great way to meet people while developing my leadership skills.

What is the most interesting JCI event you've been to and why? Probably European Conference in 2007. I have never been around so many interesting, friendly people in my life. I remember that you could walk up to any person and just start chatting with them. I highly, highly recommend attending one of these.

What do you enjoy most about being a JCI member? For me, its always been about the people. I have met such lovely people through my time at JCI - people who interest me, who support me, who challenge me, who make me laugh and most importantly, who I enjoy spending time with.

Is there anything you have done as a JCI member that you never would have thought possible before you joined? For me it would be taking on a leadership role. I've been involved with membership organisations all my life - student government, my sorority, clubs at University - and I never really had the courage to take on a leadership role until JCI. For me that aspect of JCI has always been such a strength of the organisation - it gives you a safe place to spread your wings and try things that you might not be able to do in work life. I still can't quite believe that I've managed to be President of two chambers.

What does becoming a senator mean to you? Its still a shock! But its such an honour and most importantly means that I will have a connection to this organisation and its amazing people forever. The funny thing is that on the evening I received my senatorship I had been telling Sarah how difficult it is when you hit 40 and you need to "let go" of JCI. This means I don't have to! I'm really humbled that JCI London felt I deserved this recognition - THANK YOU!

JCI London Recognised at National Convention

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:50:19 +0000

It was a successful weekend for JCI London, with our chamber and members receiving the following awards:

National Awards

Most outstanding new member - Soraya Bowen
Most outstanding international collaboration project - Live Like a Londoner Twinning Weekend
Most outstanding president - Sarah Beckwith
Certificate of Merit for regular local publication - this newsletter
Certificate of Merit for preparation by a deputy president - Simon Bucknall

100% Efficiency

This is the JCI quality standard. Local JCI chambers are awarded points for activities undertaken and essential administrative tasks throughout the year. JCI London achieved 100% efficiency for 2011.

ACE - Active Citizen Experience

A JCI UK initiative recognising those who volunteer their time in their local communities:

Mehnaz Siddiqui - Gold Award
Frene Angeli - Silver Award
Alexandra Spencer - Silver Award

Public Speaking Competitions

Although we did not win, the members that competed in the public speaking competitions also deserve a mention - speaking in front of 50 plus people is never easy and it is a real achievement just to take part. Well done to:

Public Speaking Entrant - Alex Illsley
Extempore Entrants - Sofie Sandell & Marco van den Heuvel
The JCI London Debating Team - Marco van den Heuvel, Peter Simmons & Sarah Beckwith

Go Go Go For It.....

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:10:20 +0000

I have had many good experiences since I joined JCI in September 2010 but the best so far was running the GO For IT workshop for Landmark Training students. JCI London Community team has been running this programme successfully for 4 consecutive years and won the JCI UK National Community Award in 2010. I had the opportunity to help organise and deliver the training for this awarding winning programme.

JCI offers the opportunity to any of its members to actually run a workshop and in doing so to use existing skills in a different context or develop new ones. To my opinion this is what makes JCI stand out from the average networking association!

Dimitri (JCI London Community Director) helped me to develop the presentation; this was split in two sessions to a group of 16 to 18 years old teenagers. The first session focused on writing winning CVs and the second part gave tips on how to be successful at interviews. In between the sessions I and other members sat with a group of students to practice what had just been presented.

The whole experience was really rewarding as I used my current skills (I work in HR for Japanese Bank) to help students be more prepared whenapplying for jobs and going to interviews. This has also developed my confidence when making public speeches; it was also an excellent opportunity for JCI members to network with each other and the students.

My final word would be just Go For It next year! Don't miss the chance to make a difference and be the change you want to see in the world!

Cindy Bamba

Community Team Member

Why not come along to our last team meeting of the year on Tuesday 13 December to celebrate our success in 2011 and find what's in store for 2012

Please sign up here.

Business Roundtable - Entrepreneurship

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:09:21 +0000

By Alekhya Mukherji

Recently, the JCI London Business Roundtable featured the topic of 'Entrepreneurship’ - to give members a flavour and insight into the world of entrepreneurship and start-ups. We had four great panellists:

Patrick McCrae - Founder of 'Works In Print'

Marcus Evans - Entrepreneur & MD of Interactive Space

Ricky Kothari - Founder of Innovashion & 2012 Business Director for JCI London (!)

Victoria anderson - Former Operations Director of Unltd & Trustee of the Venture Partnership Foundation

Each brought their own experiences of setting up (and helping to set up) businesses, across both private and voluntary sectors. After the initial introductions we split into smaller groups with the speakers to discuss anything we were interested in a free flow format. It gave everybody the opportunity to discuss their thoughts and ideas with all the speakers.

I was, like many others at the event, interested in understanding the experiences the panellists had with starting up a company. It was invaluable to hear the struggles they faced or are still facing while at the same time the help and support they could get from their network to carry on. The discussions were diverse but generated lots of debate within the groups. Topics ranged from coming up with viable ideas, day to day running of a business to setting up social enterprises.

I definitely came out thinking it is a big step and commitment but for sure something worthwhile to pursue for the future!

The JCI difference

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:51:43 +0000

Last week I was called into a meeting at short notice with the CEO of my company and one of the top executives in our European group. The reason; a plan of action I had put together following a department meeting I had run using techniques learned through JCI.

How did I cope with being asked to present this at short notice? I was fine! The courses I've attended and experience I've gained in JCI mean that I am comfortable presenting a wide range of topics to different types of audience. The skills I've learned give me the confidence to know that I can handle unexpected challenges and think on my feet.

That to me is the difference that JCI makes. I'm pretty sure that not everyone (including myself in my pre-JCI days) would have been able to handle that situation. Thanks to JCI I could. And what's even better is that my boss had the confidence in me to know I would. He'd even told the people in the meeting about JCI!

My first world congress

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:04:05 +0000

When I first thought about going to the JCI World Congress, I had only been a member for 6 months and was still finding my way through the JCI maze. Everyone was encouraging me to go but I was in two minds.....Brussels in November? Should I really spend my hard earned leave at a week of workshops when I could be lying on a beach somewhere? Even when I clicked the button confirming my registration I still wasn't sure......until I got there and was thrown headfirst into an exhilarating whirlwind of parties, activities and the friendliest group of people I have ever met in my life.

It all kicked off with the Opening Ceremony which was the first time the global scale of JCI actually hit me. Over 4000 delegates flooded into the Brussels Expo dressed in their national colours madly waving their flags in a mass celebration. There was a brass band and cheerleaders to get us in the mood-everyone just seemed incredibly happy and excited to be there. Each National President was introduced on stage accompanied by a booming soundtrack which kept everyone on their feet and energy levels sky high. When our own Alison Cowell came on the stage, the UK delegation went into a wild frenzy! We couldn't quite beat the huge crowd of Germans who drowned out pretty much everyone else but we certainly beat them hands down on the fashion front with our Union Jack sparkly dresses!

At the end of each day, there would be a huge party followed by after parties for those who had the stamina! The French and Germans outdid themselves at the European night with their revolving dance floor, which went down a storm with the UK delegation! The Netherlands party the following night was a lot of fun as was the Korea party next door. The best party overall was Global Village where we got the chance to sample the national food and drink of lots of different countries. The gin and tonic at the UK stall proved to be a massive success while the French stall was overflowing with bread, cheese and wine. After making a few roundtrips, it felt good to burn off some of those calories on the dance floor!

During the week there were lots of speakers and training sessions and I tried to attend as many as I could. They covered a wide range of topics from leadership skills to negotiation to how to improve your flirting skills in business! The highlight for me was a talk given by Rees Mann of JCI South Africa who spoke about his life after JCI and how the skills he developed helped him in his career. Despite having no formal business training, he completely transformed a rundown area of Johannesburg helping many young people into employment along the way. Despite all the obstacles he encountered he showed that one person can make a lasting difference to the world around them.

Now that I have been to World Congress, I finally understand what everyone has been raving about. For me, it was all about meeting and making friends with people across continents and cultures. I felt like I had the whole world at my fingertips. The enthusiasm and positivity of everyone around me was so infectious that it inspired me to get out there and change things for the better in my own community. It has also given me some great ideas for my role as 2012 Personal Development and Training Director for London.

Many of the people I met were amazed that I was attending my first World Congress so soon after joining but looking back I'm glad I took the plunge so early on. As with all things JCI related, your experience is what you make it and that manic week in Brussels ended up being the most fantastic experience of the year so far.

By Mehnaz Siddiqui

Active Citizen in the Community

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:43:09 +0000

Active Citizen Experience (ACE) is the new award programme from JCI United Kingdom that that recognises JCI members volunteering their time, both inside and outside of JCI and in their, local community. Next week at JCI UK National Convention in Sheffield, JCI London Communtiy Team has two members collecting ACE awards next weekend (25-27 November). You met our first Active Citizen Mehnaz Siddiqui earlier on in the year, we would like to introduce our second community team member Frene Angeli, read about what motivates her to volunteer in the local community and JCI.

How long have you been a member?

I have been a member for nine months now.

Why did you join JCI?

I was originally looking for somewhere I could learn new skills and be involved in different projects. When I found out more about JCI I was taken aback by how much of it reflects my own personal interests:business, training and serving the community, in particular. I studied European languages at university and have a keen interest in theinternational dimension. I really enjoyed being part of the International Team this year, helping to organise the Twinning Weekend in London this September.
I will be supporting Mehnaz Saddiqui as the Deputy Training Director in 2012, which I am really looking forward to. I am hooked on personal development and looking forward to developing my skills by being on the JCI London Council and organising more events.

What community projects have you been involved in outside of JCI and work?

This year, I had the opportunity to be involved in recruiting volunteers for the London Olympics. This was a great opportunity to
learn new skills such as interviewing candidates and facilitating group selection activities. Not only that, I got to meet all kinds of
different people and, of course, got a great sense of fulfillment from having a positive impact on the community. Volunteering doesn't necessarily need to take up a lot of your time. I have recently discovered an organisation (Hands On London) that promotes a calendar of different volunteering activies happening every day in London. Anyone can give up the occasional few hours at the weekend and the personal rewards are so great.

What advice would you give to other JCI members wanting to get involved in their local community?

Go for it! We all lead busy lives and some may be under the impression that it would take up a lot of time. This isn't the case. I would recommend people search for opportunities on www.do-it.org.uk or their local borough's volunteer centre.

What do you enjoy most about being a JCI member?

I love the fact that I have met so many great people this year. It is refreshing to be in an environment where people are so positive and interested in developing themselves and those around them. There is such a great programme of events and activities, with so many opportunities to learn and to meet new people. I only wish that I had discovered JCI earlier in life!

Frene Angeli JCI London Community Team Member

JCI London Deputy Training Director 2012

Why not come along to the next community team meeting to find out more about how we can help you make an impact in your local community and JCI.

Dates of our team meetings:

Tuesday 22 Novemeber, sign up here

Tuesday 13 December, sign up here

London to Windsor Bike Ride for British Heart Foundation

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:44:46 +0000

After completing the epic London to Brighton for the British Heart Foundation Rebecca took a short break before getting back on her bike to continue rasing funds for this fantasic charity:

Rebecca Anderson with her medal after completing the British Heart Foundation London to Brighton Bike Ride

You’d think following my previous London to Brighton experience I would have given up on the cycle rides for the summer, but I think I caught the bug and on Sunday 4th September I was back in the saddle ready for the London to Windsor Ride.

Since getting back from the London to Brighton ride I had not been on my bike once, I had been on holiday twice and done some walking – along with plenty of eating and cocktails! But had been neglecting my bike – so as you can imagine I was more than a little nervous as I felt very unprepared!! However The British Heart Foundation said that this event would suit those who wanted to enjoy a relaxing day of cycling. There was a choice of a 37 or 29 mile on-road route from Richmond Green to Alexandra Gardens in Windsor. I was doing the ride with one of my friends, Nath, who had got me through the last 20 miles of the London to Brighton, so was comfortable that we were both the same pace (well he slowed down to my pace) and that if I was struggling he would get me through. However given my lack of any cycling for 6 weeks I was only ever aiming for the 29 mile route, but I think Nath had other ideas.

We started at 9.30am in Richmond Park; it was a lovely morning, although wet weather was forecast. The forecast kept changing over the weekend, but we were hoping that the rain would do as forecast and hold off till mid afternoon…. Unlike London to Brighton the Windsor ride was much easier going, the route was pretty flat apart from one or two ‘undulations’, and because it is a less popular ride was pretty steady riding from the start. The route initially follows the Thames through West London and then the leafy lanes through the pretty villages of the Thames Valley. This annual ride is to raise money for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) is is one of their series of rides, including the London to Brighton (thought to be Europe's largest charity cycling event).

To say I had not been anywhere near my bike for 6 weeks I settled into the ride quite well and didn’t feel and tiredness or pain in my legs as expected. But by the mid way point where the two routes split, my friend Nath was struggling and very much round to my way of thinking of only doing the shorter 29 mile route. And boy, were we pleased!!

We stopped at the last refreshment stop at a pub about 8 or 10 miles from the end to have a drink and a flapjack to keep us going, and it started spitting with rain. We decided to only stop for 5 minutes and then get moving to do the last 8 miles, just in case it carried on raining….as you can see from the picture below, it about sums up the last 8 miles of riding at one point I had both my eyes shut because the rain was driving that hard that I couldn’t see – not ideal when you are cycling down hill at speed and the roads aren’t closed!! But we finished, the weather meant we were drenched to the skin and cold but it didn’t dampen our spirits, or my interest in cycling. Next year I am going to take part in the BHF London to Cambridge and London to Southend rides!!

Rebecca Anderson-JCI London Community Team Member

If your are interested in finding more about the community team and our final events for 2011 please join us on Tuesday 22 Novemeber. Sign up here

Our final meeting of the year on Tuesday 13 December to will celebration of what we have acheived in 2011 and revealing our theme for 2012. So come along to find our more and be part of the action, sign up here

Having a ball in Southampton

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:18:46 +0000

This is the third year I have been to the Southampton Annual Ball (this year also the JCI UK South Regional Dinner) and once again it did not disappoint. Those guys on the South Coast really know how to party!

Hosted in POSH Restaurant, we were treated to a three course feast of finest Indian cuisine (or English food for the less adventurous). Speeches were delivered by JCI Southampton President Drew Charman, a JCI Senator from nominated charity Wessex Heartbeat and JCI UK Deputy National President Solveig Malvik, who congratulated JCI Southampton on another outstanding year.

Six London members made the trip down and had a fantastic time, once again hitting the dance floor early for the live band and staying to the very end thanks to the cheesiest of tunes played by the DJ.

Well done to Drew and his team for organising a great event. I'm already looking forward to next year!

And the winner is...

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:31:33 +0000

Improving confidence in presentation skills is one of the core opportunities on offer through JCI. And what better way to improve than to take part in the JCI London Public Speaking competition?

Tonight we heard three JCI London members deliver 7 minute speeches on the topics of:

* How can JCI UK members prevent a reoccurrence of the riots we saw earlier this year?
* If I could meet one person from history it would be......
* Will the 2012 London Olympics be a positive thing for the whole of the UK?

Well done to Vamsi Majety, Sophie Gill and Alexandra Illsley, who each delivered a different, interesting and fun speech.

Big thanks go to Training Director Saket Modi for organising the event, fellow judges Joe Dilger and Marco van den Heuvel and MC Simon Bucknall, who had also held a private masterclass for the participants last week.

And the winner is...Alexandra Illsley. Alex will now go on to compete in the JCI UK National Public Speaking Competition at the National Convention in Sheffield next weekend (there's still time to book if you want to come along for what promises to be a great weekend).

Did we find Nessie?

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:30:46 +0000

On the 2nd of October Soraya and I ran around Loch Ness. We did this in order to fundraise for Nothing But Nets and we hoped our efforts would encourage people to buy bednets...

Well, how was it? Fortunately the drizzle meant that conditions were not too hot. The marathon started well, going downhill. However, what goes down must come back up and it got hard going around the 18 mile mark. Neverthless, the view was beautiful and the thought of the bed nets that people would by spurred me on to a time of around 5 hours 37minutes - which I was very happy with!

Thank you to all our supporters and those who have already bought bednets, it is much appreciated. You are still able to buy a bednet and can do so via the following link:

http://www.globalproblems-globalsolutions.org/site/TR/Events/NB N?px=2606525&pg=pers onal&fr_id=1040

And, did we find Nessie? See for yourself...

Alex.

So what happens at a world congress...?

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:52:00 +0000

So what happens at a world congress? Well...a lot!

Key note speakers - I attended Rees Mann's talk on ˝The JCI Advantage - Giving You the X-Factor˝, in which he outlined the amazing things he has achieved post-JCI thanks to his experiences as a local and national president and international vice president. These included transforming a run down area of Johannesburg and setting up a fashion school for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Johan Driessens' talk on ˝the power of enthusiasm˝ has to count among the most unusual, fun and energetic key note speeches I have ever been to - largely because he had us jumping around and playing air guitar! His tips on how to live with more enthusiasm certainly gave us something practical to put into action!

Competitions - the debating competition included fun and amusing topics such as ˝cats make better pets than dogs˝ and ˝it is better to be single than married˝. The JCI UK team did a fantastic job and reached the semi-finals, only to be narrowly beaten by JCI Australia. The final of JCI Scotland vs JCI Australia was an intense debate on ˝the JCI brand is about what we do, not who we say we are˝ and the brilliant team from JCI Scotland emerged victorious.

The four winners from each of the JCI area conferences also competed in the world public speaking competition on the topic of ˝to stir the world to an ever-lasting peace˝.

Awards Ceremony - we saw local and national chambers around the world rewarded for their outstanding projects, the final address by outgoing World President Kentaro Herarda and the inauguration of 2012 President Bertolt Daems.

Training sessions - I attended Training Commission Director Patrick Knight's session on Painting with Passion, in which we explored how to use language and stories to communicate our message. Some participants shared their passions on stage, which included their training business, food and the incredible hulk! There were many more sessions on a diverse range of topics from social involvement to flirting in business and from advanced negotiation to personal branding. The JCI official course are also on offer.

General Assembly - where national presidents discuss and vote on important issues for the future of the organisation, such as training and the elected officers for the following year. All members are welcome to come and watch.

Parties - each night a different country/region hosts a party. This year we were treated to Belgium night with many types of beer available, European Night in a club with a revolving dancefloor(!) and Global Village where many countries have stands showcasing their national food and drink.

What makes a congress so special is the people that you meet. There were 4,600 delegates from around the world in Brussels - all there to improve themselves, contribute to the organisation and make friends and have fun. You never know who you are going to meet. I caught up with people I hadn't seen in over a year from the COC (Conference Organising Committee) Academy I attended last year, as well as those from our twin chambers, European Academy and people I've met at other international events.

I also met a lot of new people (the Union Jack sparkly dresses we were wearing helped as everyone wanted a picture!). We even met the 1978 President of JCI London, Ian Cameron Black, who had lost touch with the chamber in recent times as he does not have a computer.

It is impossible to do everything and even harder to describe to someone who hasn't been exactly what it is like. All I can say is that everyone who goes does not come back disappointed. When discussing highlights with the JCI London council last night, all who had been to World Congress said that it was their highlight of the year.