Blog posts

Setting up Web Servers, HOT meet-ups and learning data visualisation (British Red Cross GIS)

I started my first week with the Red Cross on Tuesday (wonderfully detailed information about the team here by Helena) . After being set-up with my desk and all the IT services I was told that they had a (sort of urgent) task for me already! The mapping team is closely linked with the Phillipines Red Cross team who are working on resheltering after the recent typhoon. In order to do this, the Red Cross decided to set-up a survey downloadable on smart phones to assess the damage in each household.  Unfortunately some of the open source software behind this is facing downtime due to increased global usage and lack of personnel etc.

The pieces of the Mental Health Puzzle are coming together

Shocking news – I can now no longer go without at least a cup of tea every two hours. I am also adapting to working in an office – I no longer find it odd to share information with people sitting in the same room by email! Having said that, I have had countless very constructive conversations about general issues in the mental health sector, as well as more specific ones about my project. Everybody on the Campaigns team that I am part of has been incredibly supportive and always prepared to provide me with feedback on my work.

I can hardly believe that my second week at Rethink is almost over.

Week 2: Content and development of TF Willetts social media campaign

After my first week of extensive research and planning, we’ve now developed the campaign in the second week starting with our slogan ‘life in the light’ (it was originally ‘light up a life’ but sadly this was already taken for a hospice campaign) and filming a video in Hyde Park. The aim of the video is to introduce me and my colleague Theo, talk about what we’re going to be doing on the Facebook pages in the next couple of weeks, what the charity itself does and how people can get involved with our campaign. We weren’t aware we we’re doing this until Tuesday when the CEO of the company, Brian Willetts, told us he wanted us to do a video by Thursday, consequently we had to work at an extremely fast pace and in our own time to create content to deliver.

Week 1 on the Beautifully Wild Heath

            

1ST WEEK !!!!      30/06/14 – 4/07/14

WILD About HAMPSTEAD HEATH is a reaaaaalllllllly dynamic, exciting and fulfilling project going on at the moment. There really is sooooo much to be wild about the Heath from all its wildlife, habitats, people and the events going on there.

What a really cool week – have learnt so much and completed so much in a week.  It was a brilliant start – meeting the team and the wildlife on the Heath and I happened to start the same week that was a training week for an education officer role so it was perfect timing.

Week 1 – Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is one of 47 local trusts around the UK working to promote and protect local wildlife. The trust manages 42 nature reserves (when in Derbyshire you are never more than 9 miles away from one), including moorland, wetland, woodland and wildflower meadows. The trust works with a range of different establishments such as schools, communities, local authorities and landowners to promote and protect the natural environment. I was interested in the work of the Trust because I am from the local area so obviously its protection should be important to me, but also as a biologist I thought the work I’d be involved in witvery relevant to my course.

Fight for every Heartbeat

First week completed working for British Heart Foundation with the Healthcare and Innovations team!

Each day this week has brought something a little different meaning time has flown by. Monday started with a tour of the office in North London (attempting to remember everyone’s name!) and a presentation from the Chief Executive of BHF to all members of staff to summarise what BHF has been doing over the last 2 years and where it hopes to go in the future. I then spent a few hours getting to grips with the NHS terminology and acronyms in some of the evaluations I would be tackling later in the week.

Week one – Getting started

Regeneration of communities through performing arts is at the heart of the Thomas Frederick Willetts Foundation. Their current aim is to launch ‘The Light Project’ in October, a project which focuses on building an arts centre in Treharris, a disadvantaged community, to bring revenue back into the community as well as a providing a place where the community can come together to carry out performing arts projects. To sustain this they are opening ice cream cafes, art exhibitons from the Tate Britain and even manufacturing their own regional beer the ‘Taf-Valley’. The regeneration of Treharris will hopefully act as a microcosm to apply to other disadvantaged communities in the UK and across the world.

Rethinking Mental Illness

Here I am, sitting at my desk in the Vauxhall office of Rethink Mental Illness, after months of anticipation and preparation! It is my fourth day today, and after the strange feeling that overcomes oneself when entering unknown terrain, I am beginning to settle in. The occasional tea break allows me to enjoy the sensational view out of the 15th floor windows, with MI6 to one side of the building, and Big Ben, the London Eye and the City of London to the other. Having a chat over a cup of tea also really helps getting to know the team (and so did a 5-hour post-work picnic in the park yesterday!).

20 Participants for Charity Insights 2014 announced

The Careers Service are thrilled to announce the Charity Insights participants for 2014. The standard of entries this year was really high and we have some fantastic projects and charities our students will be working with. Our 20 participants include:

  • Rupert Belsham, 1st year Physics, The Passage
  • Nicholas Burstow, 2nd year Medicine, Multiple Sclerosis Trust
  • Jun Cao, PhD Medicine, The George Institute for Global Health
  • Anna Cupani, PhD Chemical Engineering, Sense about Science
  • Isabelle Erbacher, 2nd year Medicine, Rethink Mental Illness
  • Martha Hilton, 2nd year Physics, RECLAIM
  • Rebekah Hodgkinson, 1st year Biology, The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust
  • Clara Hurst, 2nd year Chemistry, Thomas Frederick Willets Foundation
  • Ramandeep Kang, 2nd year Physics, Barnado’s
  • Julia Langer, PhD Medicine, Population Health Genomics Foundation
  • Juha Leppanen, 1st year Maths, Green Alliance
  • Elizabeth Mitchell, 2nd year Biochemistry, British Heart Foundation
  • Chandrika Nair, PhD Microbiology, The Small Piece Trust
  • Lee Pearson, PhD Centre for Environmental Policy, CABI Trust
  • Vanessa Place, 1st year Biochemistry, St Anne’s Community Services
  • Chun-Yin San, 2nd year Biomedical Science, Sense about Science
  • Jay Shah, 2nd year Physics, British Red Cross
  • Chloe Thorn, 1st year Biomedical Science, British Red Cross
  • Thomas Windle, 4th year Mechanical Engineering, Cornwall Wildlife Trust
  • Kristiana Xhuxhi, 2nd year Biochemistry, RSPB (Wild about Hampstead Heath)

Well done and good luck to all our participants!

How do maps help in a disaster?

In my final week here at the Red Cross, I have been finding out more about using maps for disaster risk management.  Maps are used in a range of situations in the disaster risk management cycle, from pre-disaster prevention to post-disaster recovery. This will be the topic of my final blog.

Understanding vulnerability using maps

Rapid population growth and unplanned urbanisation, combined with extreme climate events are causing an increase in vulnerability of communities exposed to disasters.

This means there is a great need to use information to plan ahead.  With the internet and new technologies, a vast amount of information is now available to use.