Another chance to work for Hub Islington

December 13th, 2011 by annalevy

We’re still looking for someone really special to join our hosting team

 

The successful candidate will take a steering role in running the Hub Islington – a vibrant and inspiring community of social entrepreneurs and innovative green start-ups – and the original Hub where this global co-working movement began six years ago.
This is a unique opportunity, and one with lots of scope for development and for making your mark within this incredible network. We’ve already advertised once, but haven’t yet found the right person with the mix of skills we’re looking for.
Please see the job description below and get in touch if you have any questions…

Hub Operational Host Job Description

 

The Hub is more than a shared workspace, it’s a membership organisation, a home for people engaged in change to meet, work, share and collaborate. Combining the services of a friendly shared office space, with the networking opportunities of an active and engaged member base, the Hub helps social enterprises, business start-ups and freelancers to realise their vision and develop their projects in a supportive and inspiring environment.

Now a global community with 28 Hubs across five continents, the Hub Islington is where it all began six years ago.

The role

We are looking for an entrepreneurial and exceptionally organised person to help manage and host the Hub Islington, with a focus on operations and facilities. The successful candidate will need to be a superb multi-tasker, able to juggle the multiple and varying demands of the role while keeping their calm and a smile on their face. It helps to have a sense of humour in this role, and a happy willingness to ‘get your hands dirty’ where necessary, to ensure the smooth running of this inspiring workspace.

Joining the Hub at this time offers a unique opportunity to play a key part in running, shaping and growing the first ever Hub at a time of great expansion of the network, both in London and on a global level. We are therefore looking for someone who is not only a process/operations ninja but someone who can show entrepreneurial flair and bags of initiative, to help develop and grow the business.

Person specification

Essential

  • A passion for social enterprise and knowledge of the sector
  • Natural organiser, with experience establishing and improving administrative systems and business operations
  • Finance management experience and familiarity with bookkeeping systems
  • Entrepreneurial attitude (and ideally experience of setting up / running own business
  • Experience managing suppliers and contractors
  • Practical approach to problem-solving, calm in a crisis and a positive ‘can-do’ attitude
  • Exceptional customer service and communication skills, and the ability to develop an instant rapport with a broad range of people
  • Self-motivated and confident, and an ability to learn quickly and get stuck in from day one

Desirable

  • Fundraising experience and knowledge of investment opportunities for social enterprises
  • High level contacts within the field of social innovation
  • Facilities/office management
  • Marketing knowledge/experience

Key responsibilities:

    • Operations and team management: ensuring efficiency and consistency within the team and in delivery of services
    • Attraction and business development: initiating and negotiating partnerships which drive revenue and raise the profile of the Hub
    • Financial management: budgeting and reporting, cash flow, payroll and bookkeeping; debt collection (or supervison of debt collection via third party); invoicing and responding to member enquiries, tariff changes etc.; liaising with FD/accountant to ensure prompt completion of company secretarial responsibilities
    • Space/facilities management: ensuring the space is always fit for use, attractive, tidy, well signed and appropriately stocked; leading on an ongoing process of co-design to refresh the space/furniture, including developing external partnerships (with design schools, artists etc.) and consulting members to ensure the Hub remains a truly innovative workspace; managing relationships with suppliers and legal contracting; ensuring building security, upkeep and maintenance; health and safety, including risk assessments; first point of contact for technical issues/queries in Hub Islington
    • Community hosting: responding to, and acting on, member needs, concerns and aspirations; enabling member networking through recommendations, introductions, setting up clubs etc.; helping to develop services that support incubation of members businesses and social enterprises, e.g. through setting up a peer-mentoring scheme, improving access to shared resources and information

Details

Hours: 8.30am – 6pm, Monday – Friday

Salary: £20k with prospect for salary review depending on performance and the development of the business

Location: The Hub Islington, 5 Torrens Street, London, EC1V 1NQ

How to apply:

Write a covering letter explaining your interest in the role and how you meet the requirements of the key responsibilities and person specification. Send this along with a copy of your CV to anna.levy@the-hub.net by 6pm Tuesday 3rd January or speak to Anna on 020 78418900.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

A Hub cloud…

November 22nd, 2011 by annalevy

 

What are we talking about on this blog?

Wordle: Hub Islington

 

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Roll up, roll up!

November 16th, 2011 by annalevy

Come and get your Hub Connection membership at the comfortingly cosy cut-price offer of just £60 a year (reduced from £144) and help us raise money to insulate the Hub.

For less than half the usual price, this Hub Connection membership gives access to an inspiring London-wide network of socially motivated individuals and organisations, and entry to all our workshops and events.

We’re running this very special one-off discounted rate as part of our crowd-funding efforts to raise money to insulate the building and make the Hub more energy efficient, but be quick as the offer runs out on Friday 25th November!

To find out more, and claim your reward, visit the special Operation Insulation Sponsume site.

(Offer not available for current Hub members)

Posted in Hear from a Host, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Hub is recruiting

October 31st, 2011 by host

The Hub is happy to announce that we’re advertising not one, but two vacancies, which means two fantastic opportunities to join the network and get involved with the exciting community here in Islington. It may not sound glamorous but the Operations Host is a vital part of any hosting team and with a diverse workload and amazing colleagues (even if we do say so ourselves!) this is an great opportunity to get involved with Islington and the wider Hub network. We’re also recruiting for an intern, please see below for more info.

Hub Operational Host Job Description

An opportunity has arisen for an exceptional individual to join the team at the Hub Islington – The original Hub!

      The Hub is more than a shared workspace, it’s a membership organisation, a home for people engaged in change to meet, work, share and collaborate. Combining the services of a friendly shared office space, with the networking opportunities of an active and engaged member base, the Hub helps social enterprises, business start-ups and freelancers to realise their vision and develop their projects in a supportive and inspiring environment.

Now a global community with 28 Hubs across five continents, the Hub Islington is where it all began six years ago.

The role

We are looking for an entrepreneurial and exceptionally organised person to help manage and host the Hub Islington, with a focus on operations and facilities. The successful candidate will need to be a superb multi-tasker, able to juggle the multiple and varying demands of the role while keeping their calm and a smile on their face. It helps to have a sense of humour in this role, and a happy willingness to ‘get your hands dirty’ where necessary, to ensure the smooth running of this inspiring workspace.

Joining the Hub at this time offers a unique opportunity to play a key part in running, shaping and growing the first ever Hub at a time of great expansion of the network, both in London and on a global level. We are therefore looking for someone who is not only a process/operations ninja but someone who can show entrepreneurial flair and bags of initiative, to help develop and grow the business.

Person specification

Essential

  • A passion for social enterprise and knowledge of the secto
  • Natural organiser, with experience establishing and improving administrative systems and business operations
  • Finance management experience and familiarity with bookkeeping systems
  • Entrepreneurial attitude (and ideally experience of setting up / running own business
  • Experience managing suppliers and contractors
  • Practical approach to problem-solving, calm in a crisis and a positive ‘can-do’ attitude
  • Exceptional customer service and communication skills, and the ability to develop an instant rapport with a broad range of people
  • Self-motivated and confident, and an ability to learn quickly and get stuck in from day one

Desirable

  • Fundraising experience and knowledge of investment opportunities for social enterprises
  • High level contacts within the field of social innovation
  • Facilities/office management
  • Marketing knowledge/experience

Key responsibilities:

  • Space/facilities management
  • Ensuring the space is always fit for use, attractive, tidy, well signed and appropriately stocked
  • Leading on an ongoing process of co-design to refresh the space/furniture, including developing external partnerships (with design schools, artists etc.) and consulting members to ensure the Hub remains a truly innovative workspace
  • Managing relationships with suppliers and legal contracting
  • Ensuring building security, upkeep and maintenance/Health and safety, including risk assessments
  • First point of contact for technical issues/queries in Hub Islington Operations and team management
  • Ensuring efficiency and consistency within the team and in delivery of services Financial management
  • Budgeting and reporting, cash flow, payroll and bookkeeping – Debt collection (or supervison of debt collection via third party)
  • Invoicing and responding to member enquiries, tariff changes etc.
  • Liaising with FD/accountant to ensure prompt completion of company secretarial responsibilities Community hosting
  • Responding to, and acting on, member needs, concerns and aspirations
  • Enabling member networking through recommendations, introductions, setting up clubs etc.
  • Helping to develop services that support incubation of members businesses and social enterprises, e.g. through setting up a peer-mentoring scheme, improving access to shared resources and information.
  • Initiating and negotiating partnerships which drive revenue and raise the profile of the Hub

Details – Hours: 8.30am – 6pm, Monday – Friday – Three month initial probationary period at £20k (pro rata) with prospect of a permanent contract and increased salary depending on performance and the development of the business.

Location: The Hub Islington, 5 Torrens Street, London, EC1V 1NQ

How to apply: Write a covering letter explaining your interest in the role and how you meet the requirements of the key responsibilities and person specification. Send this along with a copy of your CV to anna.levy@the-hub.net by 6pm Wednesday 9th November or speak to Anna on 020 78418900.

We will be holding interviews on Monday 14th November.

 

Volunteer Host / Communications Executive Job Description

 The Opportunity

An exciting opportunity has arisen for one exceptional individual to join the hosting team at the Hub Islington. The Hub provides a home to a community of amazing, likeminded people working towards a radically better world.

 

The Hub is home for people engaged in change to meet, work, share and collaborate on their new projects. Now a global network with more than 20 Hubs on four continents, the Hub Islington is where it all began six years ago.

As a volunteer host here, you’d have the chance to learn from, and work with, some of the most interesting social innovators in London. You’d experience life at the vanguard of social enterprise, and help shape this extraordinary community during an exciting period of change and opportunity for the Hub network.

Working at the Hub is what you make of it. We are a very small team and have a flat management structure, so there is a lot of scope for a confident self-starter to really make their mark here. We will provide adequate training and give you every opportunity you to develop your communication skills and experience in an inspiring and supportive environment.

What is a host?

A host is the heart and soul of the Hub community. From creating networking opportunities, to making new members feel welcome, to brightening up the workspace – hosts set the culture in a Hub and add value for members.

The role

We are looking for a volunteer intern with a particular focus on marketing and communications. The role will provide the successful candidate with the opportunity to help plan and deliver both internal communications within the Hub member network, and our outreach strategy.

Responsibilities

  • Working flexibly as part of a small team to make the members’ experience at the Hub Islington as enriching as possible
  • Liaising with members, welcoming them in the space and responding to their feedback
  • Presenting the Hub to potential new members and signing them up
  • Fostering collaboration and connections between Hub members
  • Planning our events/training programme for members
  • Sourcing events partners that the Hub could work with to produce open, public events, such as talks, debates and workshops that could generate revenue and/or exposure for the Hub
  • Using social media channels (the blog, Twitter, Facebook) to engage with existing members and form connections with influential individuals and organisations within the field of social enterprise
  • Working with the lead host, create and deliver a marketing plan to sell the Hub’s meeting room-hire and co-working services
  • Gathering member case studies and stories of Hub successes and helping to plan and deliver public relations activity

 Person specification

We are looking for someone who is:

  • Self-starting and able to work autonomously
  • A multi-tasker, with great attention to detail
  • Full of new ideas and ready to innovate
  • Great with people
  • Dependable and responsible
  • Some work experience (minimum six months) in communications, marketing and/or event planning
  • Interested in the Hub and its ethos and has an understanding of social enterprise
  • Passionate, with a can-do attitude

Details

Hours: 9.30am – 5.30pm, with occasional evening events, three days per week. Minimum three month commitment required

Location: The Hub Islington, 5 Torrens Street, London, EC1V 1NQ

How to apply

Write a covering letter explaining your interest in the role and how you meet the requirements in the person specification. Send this along with a copy of your CV to anna.levy@the-hub.net by 6pm Tuesday 8th November.

Tags: ,
Posted in Hub Islington, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Discovering a HiddenCity of street art

October 17th, 2011 by Anna (host)

 

We are pro HiddenCity!

A small group of Islington Hubbers went on the hunt for Banksy yesterday around East London as part of a new Shoreditch Street Art trail by HiddenCity.

It’s a brilliantly simple concept, and helps you explore the city in a whole new way. The way it works is, clues are sent to you by cryptic text messages to your mobile phone. Work it out, follow the directions and text back the answer in order to get the next clue. It’s all timed too, so you can compete against another team, or try to get one of the top scores on the website.

We loved exploring the anarchically painted railway arches, alleyways and hidden streets of Shoreditch while working out the clues. Led down backstreets we wouldn’t normally think of going down, we saw some amazing murals that are hidden away from the main drag. We also took the time to stop and really appreciate the graffiti we might see every day but which blurs into the busy urban canvas that surrounds us here in East London. Happily there were also a couple of pub stops along the way!

I especially loved this wall on Redchurch Street, that I’ve somehow managed to walk past hundreds of times without noticing… (which is odd as it’s hardly subtle…)

Colourful street art on Redchurch Street

We even caught one of the street artists in action! This one’s a beauty…

Caught in the act!

 

Well done to Rob Reason, a regular in the Islington Hub, who launched HiddenCity was launched this summer. We’re massively impressed and look forward to trying more of their trails.

Get hunting Hubbers!

 

 

 

 

Posted in Hear from a Host, Hub Fun, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

5 steps to mastering your elevator pitch

October 14th, 2011 by Anna (host)

 

Why is it that you should always have your pitch under your hat ready to use?

Because you never know who you might encounter and how this person could help you and vice versa.

On Wednesday, Pony Express – a public speaking platform, held a taster session here at The Hub Islington, presented by Elliot Kay, also known as The Coach with the Hat. Elliot talked us through ‘The 5 Steps to Mastering your Elevator Pitch’. The main reasons for elevator pitching are to:

o      Build rapport and open relationships

o      Win clients and new business

o      Form partnerships and joint ventures

o      Pitch for investment

o      Become iconic and a global brand

By seeing the bigger picture and overcoming your negative associations towards selling, pitching can become an incredible tool to open big and heavy doors.

Here are your 5 steps:

Step 1 – Who are you? Elliot reminded us that you do business with people, many people forget the little detail, like their name and their position in the company – always start with that.

Step 2 – Credibility – Why are you the person to listen to? Along the lines of:

  • we are the number one in…
  • we are the leaders in…
  • as supported by…
  • as seen on…

Step 3 – What is it you do and how do you do it? This is where you explain what your business does and how it does it, simples.

Step 4 – Stats or Results – This is where you give the person listening to you a result of your work, to further ‘hook’ them in:

  • Through working with our empowering coaching system we have improved results for business by up 40%
  • We ran XYZ amounts of events last year
  • We designed over 50 websites a month

Step 5  – Call to Action, many businesses forget this step. What is it you want people to do? Visit your website? Book an appointment? Ask you questions? Call the listener into action!

Everyone had a turn at writing their own elevator pitches and delivering them. The delivery bit was the scary part but a great opportunity to gather some extra feedback, and people left the room a step further down the line with their pitch. We hope to invite The Coach with the Hat back to run another session sometime soon for those who missed it.

To polish your speaking skills Pony Express is running an evening event here at the Hub on Wednesday the 19th of October at 7.30 pm. Hub members come half price (£5) – bargain! To reserve a place contact – annik@ponyexpressclub.com

Posted in Hub Islington, Hub Lunches, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Investigating Cradle to Cradle on a Hub Exchange

October 4th, 2011 by amaya

Imagine an old pair of shoes that grows into flowers, a carpet that cleans the air and clothing that becomes food for plants.  These are the kinds of products being developed by Dutch designers inspired by the Cradle to Cradle concept.

I recently spent a month in Holland as part of a Hub Islington exchange, interviewing businesses that are creating products that benefit the environment, improve people’s health and are profitable.

Developed by American architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle envisions an economy based on closed-loop cycles of materials. The concept gained widespread popularity in the Netherlands following a documentary in 2006.

When I asked the Hub Amsterdam list for inspiring projects and companies that were doing Cradle to Cradle I was inundated within 24 hours. People on the list also helped me find a flat, a phone, a bike and a tripod. Basically everything I needed!

The first meeting I had was with Erica Bol, co-founder of Rewrap, a company that makes Cradle to Cradle laptop covers. The sleeves are made from biodegradable wool from eco-sheep(!) and non-toxic dye with the minimum of materials. They are manufactured in a workplace that helps reintegrate disabled people into the workforce.

The next week I travelled to Venlo, where the city council has decided to make the whole region Cradle to Cradle. Previously young people were leaving Venlo in search of work. Now the city attracts the leading businesses in Cradle to Cradle and has become a hub for sustainable innovation.

Roy Vercoulen, the Managing Director of Venlo’s Cradle to Cradle Exposition Centre, explained that the city’s procurement criteria stimulates innovation by stating intentions – such as a building that produces oxygen, sequesters carbon, purifies water, improves the health of its occupants and promotes local biodiversity – whilst allowing as much room for creativity within that as possible.

If a company meets some of the procurement criteria they score thirty points, if it meets all of the criteria it scores seventy points, and up to a hundred per cent by coming up with solutions the city hadn’t even conceived of. The average score is eighty-three.

I met Richard van Dijk from the Dutch waste company Van Gansewinkel, whose corporate slogan roughly translates as ‘there’s no such thing as waste’. They realised some years ago that most of the materials being brought to them as waste can be turned into other products, which it turns out is very profitable. Now they advise manufacturers on how to design their products to be more easily made into new ones.

Lex Knobben, co-founder of laladoo, a baby clothing company, said he came across Cradle  to Cradle when he was trying to find out if it was possible to buy non-toxic apparel. He told me even clothing made of organic cotton is often soaked in toxins during the dying process.

None of the high street brands he researched could guarantee that their clothing is one hundred per cent toxin free so now he is designing and selling onesies and bibs made from Cradle to Cradle materials.

When I asked Stef Kranendijk, whose carpet company Desso has boomed since adopting the Cradle to Cradle philosophy, what inspired him, he gives the same answer as almost everyone I ask. It was the documentary.

He was brimming with enthusiasm as he recalled watching it and thinking ‘this is fantastic. Fantastic! But I’m going to have to change my whole company!’ Which is exactly what he did. Cradle to Cradle is one of the key drivers of innovation at Desso, who have developed a carpet that helps asthma sufferers by collecting dust from the air and can be easily disassembled and made into new carpet.

The company Oat Shoes have deigned stylish trainers with a packet of seeds in the tongue. The idea is that when they are worn out you can bury them, water them and “watch wild flowers bloom out of your old kicks.”

What’s impressive is how these companies have made the environmental and social outcomes of their businesses a core part of their strategies and a driver of innovation. Instead of aiming to reduce their impact to the environment they are actively seeking to have a positive impact, and are making money in the process.

Cradle to Cradle has made me realise that we need to redesign everything and in order to do that we need a level of collaboration never seen before between chemists, designers, architects, waste companies and manufacturers.

While this is very ambitious, the fact that is can profitable gives me hope that businesses can be persuaded to it. Next week I have organised an event in London to showcase some of these examples and inspire more people to adopt the concept in the UK. Please come along if you liked what you read!

Andy Hix

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Hub Global Gathering

October 4th, 2011 by annalevy

 

 

Just got back from a four-day meeting of minds with the Hub hosting community from around the world. It was my first experience of the annual gathering of Hub teams, and I’ve come back inspired, full of ideas and excited about being part of this incredible and rapidly expanding global network.

It’s hard to summarise four long days of workshops, discussion and knowledge-sharing, but I’m going to give you an overview because I think it’s good for you guys to know what’s going on at a global level, and you’ll be sure to benefit from the fruits of our labour.

Main things I’ve learned…

-       The Hub global network is stronger than ever before with over 4,000 members across five continents and around 30 Hubs in existence and many more in development.

-       There are some really inspiring spaces (Hub Milan is, as you would expect, a perfect showcase of beautiful modern, sustainable design and clever use of reconditioned materials) and amazing people in the network

-       70% of our members are Hub Connection members, rather than space users, proving what we already knew – that we are SO much more than just a co-working space

-       Hubs are developing many exciting initiatives that could potentially be expanded across the global network, such as the Hub Fellowship programme in Hub Zurich – launched in collaboration with the WWF

-       As has happened in London, the Hub has been instrumental in fostering a culture of social innovation in places where the concept of social enterprise hasn’t really been part of the public imagination before, such as Dubai where there’s a Hub opening very soon

Some of the things we spoke about…

-       Lessons for what to do, and what not to do, when setting up and running a Hub

-       Ideas for cool events and ways of engaging members and encouraging collaboration through hosting, programming and space design

-       Stories of so many successful member projects and link-ups that have taken place in Hubs and Hub communities

-       Dreams and ambitions for the Hub global network and our social impact

-       Plans for turning all this into reality!

As well as all this, we had a sneak preview of our new online member platform (to replace Hubspace) that is due to roll out at the end of the year and the beginning of 2012 – watch this space as it’s going to be awesome!

I really want to share as much of this as possible with you all, so feel free to come and ask me about it. In the risk of sounding cheesy, we’re part of something really special and we should all be proud to be Hubbers!

Having said that, every community/organisation has its faults, and the Hub is no exception. It may be a network of incredible, passionate people who are genuinely changing the world for the better, but BOY do they use some very silly jargon.

Therefore, in order to purge some of the very worst examples from my poor tired brain, I have listed a few for your pleasure…(those of a lexically sensitive disposition should look away now)

Hub Jargon Bingo

-       Collective harvesting

-       Pipeline management

-       Clusters and working groups (in other words, groups)

-       Communities of practice

-       Codifying knowledge

-       Deep-diving (in the context of a conversation)

-       Intropreneurs

-       Architects of the future (seriously!!)

To see the gathering in action, check out Milan’s sexy Hub design (and prove that we weren’t just sitting around eating pizza and drinking coffee in sunny piazzas the whole time) you can visit the Hub’s Flickr site.

Posted in Global Hub community, Hear from a Host, Hub Events | 2 Comments »

Member survey feedback

September 8th, 2011 by elena


 So, our survey of members is finished and the results are in! First of all, thank you to everyone who responded – we really appreciate you taking the time to do so. We’ll be looking into all the issues you’ve mentioned. Let us just say again though, THANK YOU in particular for all the positive feedback and praise directed at hosts. It made us happy. The winner of the prize draw for answering the survey will be announced on Friday.

As to what you said in your responses to our questions:

The Hub means different things to different people. What do YOU think the Hub’s mission statement should be?

There were a variety of different responses, which I’ve turned into the word cloud below – the bigger the word, the more frequently it appeared across responses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mission statements we particularly liked were: “better together”, “joining together to help save the planet” and “creating space to help great ideas and connections flourish”.

 What impact has the Hub had on you/your organisation?

Affirming that the Hub is currently doing a lot of things right, 100% of answers to this question were positive. Many people mentioned that working here has been an “inspiration” and that they’d gained contacts and clients, as well as general support.

Answers ranged from “everything – empowerment to stay afloat professionally and psychologically; my urban ‘family’” to “inspiration from fellow guests, clients from the network, a respite from home”.

What improvements could the Hub make to better support the growth of your business?

Answers here varied hugely from member to member, but there were a few common themes: more networking between different and diverse sectors for one, and also, a resounding call for some kind of phone booth, in order to make private phone calls without disturbing other members working. The latter request especially is definitely something we’ll be looking at creating in the near future.

What improvements could the Hub make in terms of communication with our members?

About half of you are satisfied with our communications strategy, but the other half of you think it needs a bit of refining. So in the future we’ll be looking to publicise our events more clearly (which you can find here, incidentally!) and reduce unnecessary emailing on the maillist. We also intend to set up an online Google spreadsheet for members to recommend services, such as lawyers, photographers, marketing consultants, that they’ve used to others. It’ll also be yet another tool for members to advertise their services.

 What improvements could the Hub make to its events programme?

Most of you seem quite content with our current event schedule. However, several of you also suggested new things to do, including a book group, group walks at lunch as well as more events focusing solely on entrepreneurship, soft skills and networking. Another much-appreciated suggestion is more “regular outings to the pub”, so watch this space! We’ll be bearing these all in mind when we create the events calendar in the future. We’d also like to invite any of you with a burning passion to run a particular new event to approach us and let’s discuss how we can do it!

What improvements could the Hub make to our space? Do you have any suggestions for how this can be achieved within a limited budget?

As mentioned above, a sound-proofed phone booth seems to be very much in demand and hopefully, by means of a thick, heavy curtain, it’ll also be within our budget! Again, there were many varied suggestions, including a request for a state-of-the-art coffee machine, similar to the excellent one in Hub Amsterdam, which is provoking not a little Hub envy amongst us here!…

Any other comments or feedback?

And finally, definitely our favourite section of the survey: the extra, lovely comments many of our members chose to add! Rest assured though, the positive comments won’t make us idle, we’ll be more eager than ever to improve and keep this place as lovely as it currently is.

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Connecting with the Islington community

August 31st, 2011 by elena

 

I spent a whole day last week researching amazing organizations and people in Islington. It was definitely one of the best days I’ve spent here, because as it turns out, Islington has an abundance of caring and hardworking changemakers. Reading about all of them made me so cheerful and hopeful that I thought I’d write a blog post showcasing some of them and thereby pass the good feelings on! Without further ado therefore, here they are:

Robin Johnson

Number 1 of our Islington stars is both inspiring and intimidating if you’ve ever dreamt of being a CEO and haven’t quite made it yet. Robin Johnson is just 15 years old but is CEO of the charity he founded when he was 11, the World Conservation and Wildlife Trust. He and his friends have raised over £15k for various charitable causes by organising events for their friends and others to attend. Passionate about saving endangered species and rainforest, as well as making us all greener, he feels “this cause really needs action. It’s much more serious than my petty needs for a PlayStation” (Islington Gazette) ‘Nuff said, really!

Retroset / Tom Rosenthal

Number 2 is Retroset, a local Islington rap group who do secret gigs (shall we ask for a Hub one?…) and who created this whilst the riots were happening outside. I don’t usually enjoy rap, but I do like this one. Another great Islington musician is Tom Rosenthal, who’s done a lovely video to one of his songs, featuring Islington locals.

Henry Hemming

Number 3 is Henry Hemming, a local who’s just published a book about why Britain is not broken, in contrast to what David Cameron has been saying lately… The book’s been described by Lord Wei, former Big Society Tsar (you know, the one who was volunteering his time to launch the Big Society but then had to resign because he couldn’t afford to work unpaid…) as a “a non-political manifesto for Big Society”. It sounds like it’ll be an interesting, and possibly even inspiring, read. Its title is Together: How small groups achieve big things.

Islington Giving

Islington star Number 4 is not an individual but a local organisation for local people: Islington Giving. Their mission is to raise £3 million to support innovative projects to confront isolation, tackle poverty and invest in young people. Islington is one of the most deprived boroughs in the country, where some very rich people live alongside some of the very poorest. Ways you can get involved range from going on an Islington walking tour, to hosting a fundraising dinner, to volunteering with one of the many excellent other organisations connected to them. For other volunteering opportunities you can also check out the newly launched Islington Voluntary Action on Pentonville Road. Islington Giving have also recently partnered with UnLtd to find innovative locals with solutions to the borough’s problems and award them funding, so anyone in the Hub with some great socially innovative ideas in need of money, definitely check that out!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Activism, Hear from a Host, Hub Fun, Hub Interns, Hub Islington, Social Innovation, Spotlight on ..., Uncategorized, Young People | No Comments »

« Older Entries