Just wanted to share this webpage about succesful home working with everyone!
Archive for the ‘Hear from a Host’ Category
How to work from home…
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
Hub Visit: NYNKE
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010We´ve had a very special visitor on this pizza Tuesday @Hub Islington. Nynke, who was hosting Hub Rotterdam for three months last year and is now part of the team setting up Hub Melbourne has come to expent the day with us.
After graduating, and volunteering as a host in Hub Rotterdam, she went travelling to New Zealand and Australia and met Bred through the Hub Network; Bred, is the contact from the network for people who want to set up Hubs in Oceania, so she got involved in the set up of the Hub in Melbourne.
They have already found the space in and they wrote the business plan. Nynke is now travelling around some of the Hubs in Europe in order to understand the hosting role better, as she believes that is what makes the real difference with other co-working spaces- Also, by speaking to the founders of other hubs she is willing to learn from their previous experiences, as they went through the same processes before. She is interested in all the resources, the way IT is set, programmings, and at the end, everything that is needed in order to run a Hub.
When we ask her, how she feels in this Hub after her day in King´s Cross yesterday, and her previous experience in Rotterdam, she tells us that she can feel the essence of the Hub here and the similarities she finds between this and the one in Rotterdam .
She will also be visitng the Hubs in Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam and hosting for a couple of days in Rotterdam in the next couple of weeks before going back to keep on with the Melbourne Hub.
BEST OF LUCKS!
WEEKLY TOP FIVE STORIES FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD
Friday, July 9th, 2010(Drum playing with expectancy sound) Tintirinti titi tititin….. drrrrummm
Today, we are starting a series of weekly TOP FIVE STORIES picked from the media in the outside (of The Hub) world.
1.- WORLDTV.COM
If bloging gave us the opportunity to spread our words all around, now this new resource makes possible to create our very own on-line TV.
2. – The Bonnington Squat in London.
Could this be the key to solve the housing problems in the city? An experience worth watching…
Are democracy and individual rights compatible with the ‘managed contraction’ of the economy? wonders Duncan Green.
4.- An encouraging one to cheer us up!
And last but not least… a bit of a weird one to make you all laugh:
5.- LOST LONDON
Happy fridays!!
San Fermin @ London Fields all day tomorrow!
Hub Events we are hosting in April
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010There is literally so much going on at The Hub in April, we don’t know how you’re going to fit it all in!
Hub Cinema | Paradiso Series
Thursday 1st April, Hub Islington, 7-9pm
It is time for the second film night. For those who missed the last one, our film nights are held once a month either at Kings Cross / Islington Hub and is a very chilled evening for you, your family and friends to come and watch a free film that has been selected by previous attendees. We are aiming to include as many genres and film styles as possible, so if this one is not quite your thing, keep your eyes open for next months.
This month we are showing the film Perfume. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born in the stench of eighteenth century Paris, develops a superior olfactory sense, which he uses to create the world’s finest perfumes. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he tries to preserve scents in the search for the ultimate perfume.
Please bring your own food and drink for the evening. Last time we all shared food, so if you are up for that, then just bring along whatever you feel like. These events are free, but please RSVP so we have an idea of numbers: amy.warner@the-hub.net.
Hub Workshop | Come Sing
Wednesday 7th April, Hub Islington, 6.45-8.30pm
Hub member Idit Gold is founder and the musical director of Singinginlondon.com, providing singing clubs around the capital. This workshop demonstration is about the joy of singing and the fun of sharing the experience. It will take you through a vocal warm up and voice projection. Afterwards, you’ll be able to choose between singing solo, duet, harmonizing or just singing a chorus line.
The workshop is open to all with no audition whatsoever! So come along and try it out.
Attendance is free to Hub members and their guests with request for a voluntary contribution towards costs. Please confirm your space by emailing idit@singinginlondon.com with the subject: Booking – Come Sing
Hub Clinic | Get More Done without Going Crazy
Thursday 8th April, Hub Kings Cross, 1-2pm
Personal productivity tips for getting things done and managing stress. In this training we will be brainstorming time management tips, looking at some effective systems for managing your workload and learning how to “centre” under pressure. Ideal for busy people who care about what they do, their sanity, and relationships.
Run by Hub Member Mark Walsh from Brighton based Integration Training.
This event is free for all, but bring some lunch. For booking email: eleanor.whitley@the-hub.net
Hub Workshop | Ubuntu Chocolate
Thursday 8th April, Hub Islington, 6.30-9pm
“Ubuntu” is an African concept that represents sharing and generosity. At this event, Ubuntu Chocolate would like to share our love of good chocolate with Hub members in an educational and enjoyable evening.
Hear about how we run a flat-structured and versatile “starfish” organisation. Learn about the chocolate making process from bean to bar, and the steps involved to making mouth-watering chocolate creations. Indulge in a tasting experience, and try some of our quirky sumptuous bars. Finally get your fingers dusted and make your own truffles then try out some chocolate cocktail concoctions.
Ubuntu Chocolate specialise in making delicious dark chocolate treats from high quality cocoa and natural ingredients. For more about Ubuntu Chocolate visit our website: www.ubuntuchocolate.com
Attendance is free for Hub members and £4 for non-members, spaces are limited so please RSVP to islington.hosts@the-hub.net with the subject: Booking – Chocolate, or call 020 7841 8900.
Enterprise Manifesto Camp
Monday 12th April, Hub Kings Cross, 6.30pm
‘Manifesto Camps’ are for entrepreneurs to discuss face to face how entrepreneurship can be better promoted and supported in the UK. Hub Kings Cross has been housing Manifesto Camps throughout March, and continues to do so in April. Hosted by Enterprise UK, they are happy to swap drinks in return for Hub member’s ideas on subjects around entrepreneurship.
For more information on these events and to sign up visit here: http://manifestocamp.eventbrite.com/
Hub Breakfast | Scoping your market with Michael Norton
Tuesday 13th April, Hub Islington, 8.30-10.00am
Michael Norton knows a thing or two about setting up new businesses in the social sector, bringing more than 25 years experience and a string of successful ventures to the table. By his own admission, not understanding the market for your product or service is a key failing for most social entrepreneurs. Join us for breakfast and we’ll explore how to do this simply and effectively.
Attendance is free for Hub members and £4 for non Hub-members, please email islington.hosts@the-hub.net with the subject: Booking – Hub Breakfast, or call 020 7841 8900.
Hub | Charity Quiz Night
Wednesday 14th April, Hub Islington, 6.30-9.30pm
With Hub Host Holly both running the London Marathon at the end of April and loving quizzes, what better way to combine the two things than holding a fundraising quiz night! You’re invited to get a team together, come up with a sassy name, start the revision and decide amongst yourselves who will answer the ever so tricky tie-breaker question. Questions will cover all the classics; general knowledge, sport, music, history, food & drink, and of course, much more. There will also be a small bar and some tasty food to keep energy levels up, as well as a prize for the winning team. All money raised on the night will go towards Holly’s marathon charity, Children with Leukaemia.
Entry costs just £2 per person (no more than 5 in a team please!). To register your team please email holly.lambert@the-hub.net
Hub Partnership event with Net Impact | Green Business Leaders: Roadmap to 2015.
Thursday April 22nd, Hub Kings Cross, 7pm
Jeremy Leggett, Chair of Solar Century; and Scott McGregor, CEO of Camco, lead two of the most well known UK companies specialising in renewable energy and carbon management.
With weeks to go before the UK General Election, they will be sharing their personal views on how the politics of energy and climate change will create business opportunities over the coming 5 years, how companies – private and public – can be entrepreneurial in the sustainability space, and where in the world to expect low-carbon business leadership in 2010-2011.
We’ve made 5 free tickets available for Hub members and there is also set up a 25% discount for Hub members who sign up before 1 April.
For details and to sign up, go to http://2015roadmap.eventbrite.com. For details of other upcoming Net Impact events, see here www.netimpact.org.uk
London International Documentary Festival
Saturday 24th April, Hub Kings Cross , 11am – 4pm
Hub member’s London International Documentary Festival have a commitment to ‘Conversations in Film’ which creates a unique kind of film festival. The films within LIDF are the starting point for a series of programmed ‘conversations’ – panel discussions and workshops – that bring diverse audiences together to go beyond the films themselves in order to engage with social, cultural and political issues in the company of policy makers, academics, journalists and other cultural commentators.
The festival runs from the 23rd April – 4th May 2010 and a day of film, photographs, artistic support sessions, and discussion will happen at Hub Kings Cross on Saturday 24th April. For more information on content and tickets see: www.lidf.co.uk/lidf2010/ or contact grace.pattison@lidf.co.uk
Hub Celebration | Kids First presents Playground Partnerships
Wednesday 28th April, Hub Islington, 1-2pm
Playground Partnerships, the award winning flagship scheme run by Kids First Trust, is a cross curricular programme that helps children develop essential skills to enable them to grow into responsible adults. Set up as a design competition, primary school children all over the UK are invited to redesign their play spaces via a design portfolio and potentially win the money to build them.
In 2009 Kids First Trust had to decrease the available prize fund from £150,000 to £20,000 due to the collapse of our corporate founding partner Woolworths Plc. We are really proud to announce that despite this, schools and children have not lost their appetite for the scheme!
Come and join us over lunch for a viewing of the portfolios that we have received this year (including this years winners chosen by children that have previously participated in the scheme) and give us your feedback.
This event is free to all (donations to Kids First Trust will be more than welcome though!)
Hub Feast | in partnership with Food Stuff
Wednesday 28th April, Hub Kings Cross, 7pm
The programme of Feasts for 2010 is well under way now and this month, we’ll be looking at Guerilla Food. Across London, there are people running underground restaurants, growing things in weird and wonderful places, cooking in unpredictable locations and using food in ways previously not explored. If you want to meet these people and find out a bit more about what they’re up to, we invite you to come along.
As always, you can expect to sit next to people who love food, cooking it, talking about it and most of all, eating it. So bring both an open mind and a dish to share to eat with people that love all things food. An informal evening with a very loose agenda, we hope to create a feast where conversation about food, life, love and everything in between, can flow freely.
If you are interested in joining us, please get in touch with Eleanor at Hub Kings Cross (eleanor.whitley@the-hub.net) or Holly at Food Stuff (holly@foodstuff.org.uk).
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Coming up in May:
14 May: Kid I wrote back and Little Show Off at the Hub Islington – Spoken word and performance: London’s up-and-coming monthly open-mic night.
The Hub | February Events
Monday, February 1st, 2010Hurrah – February is upon us. I can even hear spring. Great events and happenings this month – check them out and pass on to your friends!
All the best,
The Hosting Team…
x
Hub Lunch | Of Love, Thursday 11th February
Hub Islington, 1-2pm
Valentine’s Day! Kitsch, flowers, candle-light, romance, love. LOVE! Uhoh.
A light-hearted twist on our weekly Sexy Salad Club – bring in food to share and we’ll spice things up a little, set the mood, dim the lights, put on that special album…
This event is free! Bring food to share and you’re welcome to bring a friend. Any questions or marriage requests to alex.rinsler@the-hub.net
Hub Launch | Hand Views – Exhibition & Book, Tuesday 16th February
Hub Kings Cross, 6.30pm
Handviews is released annually: a portrait of people’s opinions through their hands about their current lives and wishes. Hub member Ana Garcia photographed in January in the Hub for the Handviews book and exhibition. Hub members who took part can now see their hands on the walls of Hub Kings Cross and in the Handviews book.
This event is free! Get in touch if you plan to attend: eleanor.whitley@the-hub.net
Hub Members Council | Monthly Meetup, Wednesday 17th February
Hub Islington, 5-6pm
The Hub Islington Members Council is a monthly meeting open to all members. We talk about things we would like to see going on in the Hub and discuss with Hosts how best to get make them happen. We have a monthly budget of £100 and 16 hours of time, so we can use of this to prioritise new exciting projects.
All Hub Islington members are welcome, if you plan to attend please email alex.rinsler@the-hub.net
Hub Pioneers | Professor David Nutt, Wednesday 17th February
Hub Islington, 6.30-8pm
Professor David Nutt was until November 2009 Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Since being asked to stand down by the Home Secretary he has now set up the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, with four of the five members of the ACMD who resigned with him last year. Its mission is to make public the evidence on the relative risks and harms of drugs without regard to political sensitivities.
The circumstances around his dismissal fired national debate not just about the impact of drugs, but also the boundaries between science and politics and the role of Government in our society. He will join us to speak more about his work and take questions.
The Hub Pioneers series is an opportunity to meet people at the forefront of social change who may not necessarily be seen as social entrepreneurs.
Attendance is £4 for Hub members and £5 for non-members – space is strictly limited so please email alex.rinsler@the-hub or call 020 7841 8900 to confirm your place.
Hub Office Hours | with the Public Sector Innovation Unit from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills,
Tuesday 23rd February
, Hub Kings Cross, 2-4.30pm
A representative of the Public Sector Innovation Unit (PSI) from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will be working out of Hub Kings Cross from 2-4.30pm the 23rd Feb. The interests of the PSI Unit lie in exploring the opportunities to connect innovative entrepreneurs with government, in order to support fresh thinking within the public sector in both policy making and service delivery.
Hub Kings Cross, The PSI from the Dept of BIS and, Volans invite you to come and connect to use this exciting opportunity to be in touch with a representative of the UK Government. This representative will be joined by a member of the Volans team who will be able to share insight on how partnerships between entrepreneurs and the private and public sector can be catalytic and mutually beneficial for all parties involved.
This is an informal drop in session. If you have any questions please contact Eleanor at Hub Kings Cross (eleanor.whitley@the-hub.net). Please note: the UK Government representative is not responsible for the funding arrangements for social enterprise and so will not be at the Hub to advise on this. However, they will try, where they can, to point you in the right direction.
Hub Partnership | Investor Speed Dating in association with ClearlySo, Tuesday 23rd February
Hub Kings Cross, 7pm
Social enterprises have two minutes to pitch to each of our carefully selected investors. Investors will then have two minutes to ask questions about your business, capital requirements and expected financial and social returns. After this more formal part of the evening ClearlySo hosts drinks at the bar downstairs… often where the real connections are made!
If you are interested to take part please contact Simon Evill from ClearlySo on 020 7281 7913.
Feast | Hosted by Hub Kings Cross & Food Stuff, Wednesday 24th February
Hub Kings Cross, 7pm
On the last Wednesday of every month, Food Stuff and the Hub host a feast. The invitation is for people who love food, cooking it, talking about it and most of all, eating it, to come along with both an open mind and a dish to share to eat with people that feel the same.
An informal evening with a very loose agenda, we hope to create a feast where conversation about food, life, love and everything in between, can flow freely. In February we’re very excited that Andy from Mindapples (an online campaign that encourages us to explore the five a day we need for our mental health) has put the date in his diary and will be thinking about the dish he’s going to bring. Whether you’re keen to talk more about Mind Apples, or a million other things, we look forward to seeing you there.
If you are interested in joining please get in touch with Eleanor at Hub Kings Cross (eleanor.whitley@the-hub.net) or Holly at Food Stuff (holly@foodstuff.org.uk)
Hub Screening | Starsuckers, Thursday 25th February
Hub Islington, 7-10pm
Hub Islington, 7-10pm
Premiered in the 2009 London Film Festival and heralded by the Sunday Telegraph as “Thrilling” and “Revolutionary”, Starsuckers exposes the toxic effect that the media and celebrity are having on our world. Filmed in secret over two years, Chris Atkins (of award-winning Taking Liberties) and his production team posed as tipsters, making up stories for the tabloid press and seeing how far they could get. Chris will be joining us to introduce the film, and for Q/A at the end.
Tickets are £4 to Hub members and £5 to non-members. Space is limited so email alex.rinsler@the-hub.net to reserve your place, or call 020 7841 8900.
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I want to ride my bicycle…
Thursday, December 17th, 2009I want to ride my bike.
And potentially, you can too. I have just received a letter notifying us of a planning application to put 19 bikes outside the Hub as part of the London wide bike hire scheme. This is REALLY cool! And as much as I’d love to say the Hub organised it, we didn’t. Sometimes, good things just happen.
Nothing much else to say now. I’m going to write to the council in support of the application. And ask them to make sure there is a nice pink bike in there especially for me (!). So let’s just see what happens…
To keep you excited until we know more, here is a picture of my beautiful old shopper (which I got from BikeWorks). Isn’t it lovely?! It has a flat tyre at the moment so if anyone can help me rectify that, get in touch!
Holly
xx
The Little Show Off – xmas bonanza at the Hub
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009Xmas parties usually scare me – forced fun, biting cold and bad music. Last Thursday though the Hub surpasssed itself. The Little Show Off is guaranteed fun – part cabaret, part talent show, part marketplace. We have a fair share of characters and the space here is perfect. What a way to celebrate the end of the year…
I found myself standing in a crowd of 100, swaying to ‘Looking for Freedom’ by David Hasselhoff, throwing paper aeroplanes with the Hoff’s face over a fake Berlin wall led by Adam Taffler – bewigged, bespectacled and be-Germanised as the uberHoff-fan. Later our own Nils Toedtmann (below) introduced us all to Schrodinger’s Wave Theory, in a home-made suit fit for Where the Wild Things Are. I understand that protons are wild things, and that Nils is very funny.
This is how you do quantum mechanics
There were performance poets, singer-songwriters, dancers and games, as well as a Christmas market selling everything from fresh mistletoe to spiced pimms, jewellery to sheepskin rugs. Lucy Baker from the Fun Fed put the thing together in aid of SOKO Kenya and the Big C Cycle ride – four intrepid cyclists (including our Holly and Rachel) raising more than £14,000 for four cancer charities (Marie Curie Cancer Care, Ovarian Cancer Action, the Lymphoma Association and Children with Leukemia). The event raised more than £1700, a thoroughly good show (off).
Love is in the air…
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009I use the term love quite freely. I love cooking. I love the X Factor. I love when the weather is crisp and leaves are on the ground just waiting to be kicked. I of course love my family. In all honesty, I love lots of things. Since working for the Hub though, I have also developed a new type of Love. One I like to call ‘Project Love’.
Project Love occurs when you just LOVE someones project (who’d have guessed eh?!). Of course all Hub members and associates do amazing things but there are just some organisations out there, that us Hosts have a soft spot for. We usually keep them secret (it’s not nice to show favouritism after all!) but today, I just can’t hold my love for one particular project, in any longer. So here goes….
I LOVE KIDS COMPANY!
This is the KidsCo philosophy:
Kids Company aims to promote and support emotional well-being. Our approach is rooted in attachment theory and a belief in the importance of ’loving care’. We start by solving practical problems such as housing, health and nutrition, in the hope of restoring some consistency to young people’s lives, and so reducing their loneliness and trauma. From here, the process of emotional repair can begin.
Experience has taught us that children who suffer trauma, abuse and neglect cope with their pain by shutting down their capacity to feel. Punishing these young people only cements their emotional coldness. We facilitate the healing process through the development of sustained, caring relationships, in which both children’s practical and emotional needs are taken care of.
This week, I received a copy of the Kids Co Winter Newsletter and just felt so inspired. One of the first paragraphs in the opening letter from Chief Exec, Camila Batmanghelidjh reads:
We have had a fantastic year. Of the children funded through our Government
grant, 84% are now in education, employment or training, when they were not
before. One hundred and twenty had no birth certificates and we’ve organised
those for them; 117 gained passports; 106 gained National Insurance numbers;
seventy-three received driving licences; 99 opened bank accounts; 57 started
university. For some, we have negotiated entries into top universities without
GCSE or A level qualifications. This is in the context of 400 young people
with serious emotional and behavioural difficulties whose problems were
compounded by extreme poverty.
This is despite a reduction in other donations due to the financial crisi (eek!) and posta strikes. Kids Co have done lots of other amazing things this year but the things detailed above really stood out to me. Things like obtaining a birth certificate will have such a dramatic effect on a child’s life – to begin a journey of feeling, of identity, of history, of being loved, of being valued. To happen at such an important stage in life can help determine the sort of person that child will become.
Kids Co also provides the opportunity to volunteer in exciting ways – for example, recently they have been looking for elves and a Santa to run their Xmas Grotto! And once, they needed someone to house a dog so one of their children to go into rehab (he refused to go until the dog, his best bud, was given a home while he was gone).
It is because Kids Co places such an importance on the little things, the big things and everything in betweem that I love them. And always will. Well done Kids Co, keep up the good work. You can donate to them here.
Holly x