Supporting Others, Helping Each Other

I had the pleasure of being invited to give a presentation about the SHP “Unheard Holler “blog site to members of the Metropolitan at Cambridge. At the time I knew very little of the work the Metropolitan was involved in or what areas it covered. I had been invited because one of the organising committee had seen me give a short talk about the “Holler” blog site once before.

A wee bit of research and felt it would be interesting to meet the people involved with Metropolitan. Also I had never been to Cambridge.

A week before I was to give the presentation I learnt that I was the only one giving a talk and I was scheduled to inform and entertain for 1 hour. The thought of filling an hour to keep people interested and not being bored or falling asleep seemed a daunting task for me as I had never done a presentation without support and never for a full hour. Fortunately I was given some tips and advice from people such as Connie, (now ex SHP), and Alana from “On the Road Media”.

So of I toddled to Cambridge a tad nervous but excited about my adventure. I would like to say as I approached Cambridge I had similar feelings to some of past students who were starting out on their voyage of discovery and learning but my thoughts were more about finding the venue and not being late. Fortunately I arrived in time for lunch, always a priority when attending any meeting /conference, although the taxi driver did get lost for a short period. Was this an omen I thought!! My nervousness was somewhat settled by the friendly greeting and conversation over lunch, which was very good. 

I began the presentation with a piece from the “Unheard Holler” YouTube page that had been recorded from the ‘Autumn Online’ workshops held in the SHP hostels in central London in conjunction with “On Road “media. The workshops were to introduce people to blogging and how to use the “Unheard Holler” blog site. I choose this piece because I felt this would catch their attention as the piece was about art work and set to music all done by a person who at first was very shy at contributing to the workshop and the blog site. In fact at first he would not even come into the room!!
This was followed by a brief history of the foundation of the “Unheard Holler’ blog site and the co-operation and the work done between OnRoadmedia and SHP and of course that the site had been nominated for two awards, shortlisted for the Nominet Internet Awards 2012 and finalists in the T4G Awards 2012, Technology4Good.

I felt it was important to emphasise how the blog site enabled people to give their opinions, a different and personal point of view on issues that they feel strongly about and may be ignored or viewed with shallowness, lack of depth in content and without personal experience.  

I had decided to choose a mix of the “Unheard Holler” written work and the ‘Unheard Holler” You Tube video page as this would vary the presentation but more importantly show the width and quality of the work produced by the people contributing to the blog site.

During the presentation I encouraged questions and contributions from the Metropolitan people as this helped me to expand further on the work done and the advantages of the ‘Unheard Holler” blog and to see what was drawing their attention.

As usual when you are new to something and a wee bit nervous there are a couple of glitches in my case it was shifting between the blog contributions and the vlogs fortunately one of the group helped me through this.

After all my nerves and worry the hour passed very quickly, in fact we ran over by several minutes and only an intervention by the chair brought it to an end. I still felt there was more to cover.

I felt the presentation went well, far better than I expected, and the response from people there were was very good. I found the group as a whole and individually was very interested and stimulated by the work done by the “bloggers/vloggers” and how the blog site allowed people to air their views and experiences. How the blog site enabled them to show their talent and skills not just in the content but also in the presentation of the work and articles presented.    

One reason for my doing the presentation is I feel strongly about exchanging ideas with others and benefiting from each other’s experience and expertise in various areas. Meeting and discussing what an agency and people are doing can only help develop ideas and strategies for the benefit of everyone involved in the field of helping and empowering people to believe in themselves.

Finally a very big thank you to the people of the Metropolitan for inviting me and allowing me the time and the opportunity to show the skills of the contributors and the benefit of having access to a blog site.

   McTaggart  

Who else can say they have had Rihanna swinging over their head?

A case study about one blogger's learning journey

1.    What was your situation before you got interested in learning?

I was homeless for several years sleeping rough with friends. I managed to get a room in a B & B and received Housing Benefit from Camden Council as it was on their registered list. New owners took over and decided they could evict us and turn in into a backpacker’s hostel. We organised ourselves into an action group fought our case with the help of Shelter and other agencies. After several months of campaigning I was eventually offered a studio flat in Holborn by Camden Council Housing Dept. I think it was to get me off their back and our campaigning.  I would have lost my credibility if Camden Housing had said that I had been offered accommodation and had refused it.  Due to my situation I found it difficult to take up or continue any learning course.

2.    How did you first became interested in learning and what motivated you to take part?

I have always been interested in learning and was always encouraged in this by my parents especially my mother. I enjoy reading and learning I would read all sorts of books but I was never very responsible about doing my homework. When I was younger I did not take learning seriously.  I now feel learning and education as a way to empower oneself. I have learnt that the establishment or officials do not like it when you can put forward your case in an informed manner.

Getting online this autumn...

The 'Autumn Online' workshops ran across five SHP services and hostels during September and October. These drop-in workshops, run by On Road, helped residents get online, access public services websites, set up e-mail addresses and blog.

Here's a glimpse at what we got up to during the workshops:

Man of Hobbies

                                                        

My name is Udeme Udofah and as I have titled my paragraph here I am a man who has hobbies. I have been saved from boredom by these hobbies because they stop people from being bored because boredom is a very bad thing. The things that occupy me and my interests are collecting foreign coins and notes and watching videos of my favourite programmes, like films, soaps and documentaries.

Studying is another thing that is a hobby of mine but also an aim, because out of that I can make a career. One thing I would like to say is that having hobbies is just like having an aim but the difference being that hobbies are what you see as things you like to do but having an aim is something you do to have a career which is what I plan to do, and when I put the two together it motivates me even more to do well, having both.

(Udeme took part in the Autumn Online workshops in Bondway).

Autumn Online comes to a close!

It's been a very busy couple of months running 'Autumn Online' which aimed to build the confidence of 30-50 people, who have experienced homelessness and/or addiction, with using the web.

Watching each other’s first video blogs at Bondway Service

Watching each other’s first video blogs at Bondway Service

Equipped with laptops and cameras, the On Road team spent two days in each service helping residents with basic online skills, blog writing and video blogging. 

The hope was that participants would enjoy the experience of creating online content and feel more confidence to use the web as a result, whether by keeping in touch with people by email or by accessing information that can help them, like news and support websites and public services online.

On Road  held drop-in workshops in 5 different Single Homeless Project services across London; Arlington Road hostel, 165 Project in King's Cross, the Dennis Handfield House, Highbury New Park hostel and Bondway advice and support service.

Participants learned how to set up email addresses and access public service websites like the Post Office, NHS and Direct.gov. They gained confidence in typing, using the mouse, searching for information and getting online. Working in small teams, they were shown how to use simple flip cameras, interview each other and edit short videos which were then uploaded onto Youtube. You can watch some here.

Many people were interested in writing for Unheard Holler (the blog On Road helped clients to set up back in September 2011) and there has certainly been some rich content up there! People have shared their personal experiences and journeys, contributed poetry, drawings, music and videos. There has been a lot of thought and time put into posts about raves and republicanism, medication and movie reviews, detoxing and democracy, careers and creativity - not to mention gardening! And there's more to come…

Check out the photos from all the workshops on Facebook.  If you're a client and want to get involved with the blog speak to your SHP service manager. If you want to learn more about the project contact Alana (alana@onroadmedia.org.uk). 

A short brief about my life

My name is Hanad Mohamed.  I’m from Somalia, Mogadishu but now I live in London. I came to the UK when I was 12. I'm 21 years old. I like living in London because it’s big city with a lot of opportunities and it is very popular.

London has many attractions, like buildings and Trafalgar Square. I also like Oxford Circus because of the shops they have there.

My favourite team are from London and they are called Arsenal FC. We are GUNNERS, London’s best team, the home of football. I support them because they are a good quality team with good players and we  are gonna win the Champions League this year.

I’m studying in Careers in Level 1 Business at Westminster Kingsway College and I have just started yesterday. It was a brilliant day. We weren’t able to do  that much of learning because there was  a mix up with the timetable.We did two exams in the morning. We did a numeracy exam to find out what level I’m working at. It was a bit hard but I got through.The second lesson was off because there was no  teacher there. The last lesson we did was a Literacy exam to also find out what level I’m working at.

Today I had one lesson where we worked as group of four and looked up jobs on the internet  and  wrote about what we found. The next lesson was cancelled due to the teacher not being there (again!).

I  would like to achieve a certificate that allows me to study level 2 Business within the same college.

Moving on

Using drugs has done to me & plenty of others  1 thing & 1 thing only, ruined our lives!! Not many of us become a success, but some of us do. I myself am on the hamster wheel trying yet again to conquer my demons. Methadone is now my drug of choice, which just keeps me stable but, keeps me labelled as an addict. So what’s next? Good question, my answer to that is not exactly new but it has new meaning to me right now. I am in the middle of enrolling on a degree in i.t & computing. Enough is enough, time to achieve something other than being a dropout socially. My aim is to be a network administrator as well as maybe moving over into web design. So my next few years will draw on all my abilities. I for 1 know i can do it as taking drugs has made me an excellent planner, quick thinking on my feet , and setting up my own supply lines selling goods to make money, so study should technically be a walk in a park!  I hope that i fulfil my dreams in the near future & move on to living a fruitful life.

Owen G

Autumn Online: 'Why I Blog' by McTaggart

Until April this year I knew very little about blogging. I was confused as to what a blog site was and Facebook, I thought they were the same. So it shows how little I knew about the workings of a blog site and the inner workings of social messaging.

This all changed when I was invited along to a blogging workshop at the S.H.P. office at Grays Inn Rd. I was surprised how easy it was to “blog” I didn’t need great computer skills just a basic knowledge of a computer such as how to press a letter on the keyboard to create a word. There were staff on hand to guide me slowly through the “blogging” procedure with plenty of encouragement from the staff and the other users of S.H.P. who were interested in using the S.H.P. blog site “Unheard Holler”.

I and the others were soon blogging away.

What I enjoy about blogging, the word used to describe using a blog site to add new material or update a present blog, is the freedom it gives me to express how I feel about certain issues, share my knowledge, experience or expertise on any subject or life my experiences.

It can be accessed by anyone in the world and they can add their comments to my blog.

I felt proud and very pleased when one of my blogs was picked up by a journalist from the BBC Newsnight programme and he/they ended up using it as the lead article and main theme for the Newsnight programme. It was about the N.H.S. hospitals in London keeping wards empty for the exclusive use of the V.I.P.s Olympic family in case of an accident or illness.  So a blog message can have an influence and effect on people.

On the Unheard Holler blog site I and others can write articles on any topic/subject draw, post photographs, post cartoons or use prose and poetry to express how they feel about anything.

People have blogged about their addiction, their medical assessment procedure, politics, poetry, having a baby, in fact anything they feel strongly about or wish to share their life experiences to encourage or educate others.

Personally I enjoy blogging, (writing), about topics I am interested in or I feel people may like to be informed about.

McTaggart

Autumn Online with Peter: "I want to write a book called 'Hell on Earth'"

My name is Peter Lewis Goldsmith, I am 31 years old, soon I’m gonna be 32.
Today I have spent a few hours learning editing skills and making videos for my children as I am going away to Detox and rehab on Monday for 6 months.
I thought I’d write a book during that time, to share some experiences with you. All the best

What’s the title of the book you want to write?

 ‘Hell on Earth’

I’ve experience life at the bottom, rock bottom. And I’ve experienced life at the top. That’s why I’ve got fire in my belly …I ain’t took drugs for 6 months …life could be really good. You could be happy.

What’s a good life?

Seeing my family all the time, providing for my family.

If my son wants new trainers, if my missus wants a new perfume. That makes a big difference, that’s why people work. If you don’t look after your wife, some other man will look after her.

Me and my wife we’ve been together 5 years…she’s a police officer now. She knows I’m not always going to be in this position. If you don’t go to rehab she said it’s over. It’s worth it. We might be together 40 years, what’s 6 months?

There’s nothing more important than your family. I want my son and my daughter to look up to me. I don’t want them to think their dad lives in a hostel for drug addicts.

Why did you decide to get married?

I got married when I was living in Leeds up north. I married her cause I loved her so much. I asked her to marry me about 2 weeks before she found out she was pregnant.

How did you feel when she told you that?

It was a bit of a relief for me and for her, to know we could have kids.
We were together for 4 years, sleeping together and it became a little bit of a joke, ‘you’re not having a baby, eh?’ It was my first kid. The best day of my life. Then my son was born.  Another best day of my life. Then when I got off methadone.

Do you think the methadone helps?

No, not really, they just replace the drug you were using before with another one.
Giving some 1 Methadone to get off Heroin is like giving someone Heroin to get off Cannabis, the Meth is 20 times worse 20 times more addictive and 20 times harder to get off than Heroin, but hey if the Government do anything that makes any sense, something is probably wrong!!!

Peter Goldsmith 15/09/2012

Notes on a blogging workshop

I am spending this cold Friday afternoon in a warm room at SHP, Grays Inn Road learning about 'blogging' and a wee bit of 'twitter'. I have never 'blogged' or 'twitted' before, or should that be 'tweeted'? In my case the former may apply. There may be the possibility of there being a 'blogger' group every month or fortnightly. 

There are a few of us here today playing about with the blog or twitter. We may decide to make a video or then again maybe not. I just found out that one can only use 160 characters on a 'tweet' and a 'blog' is unlimited. 

People are doing whatever they feel interested in doing. One person is blogging a poem others like myself are just playing about and experimenting.

All the best,
Kenny