Posts tagged event

Calling Cambridge Misfits!

The Life and Times of a Remarkable Misfit is coming to Cambridge!

Not only that, but Princess of Organising Chaos over at Misfit Inc, Jessie White, has put together this awesome poster.

[gview file=”http://theyoucanhub.org.uk/files/2013/11/Misfit-Gig-Cambridge-Poster.pdf” height=”1300px” save=”0″]

Misfit friends, new or long-standing, are invited to join us – if you would like more information and a free ticket head over to our booking page!

Lou Shackleton

Change-maker in Chief

Are you a community lover? Come celebrate with us!

Community Lover's Guide to the Universe

Community – what does it mean to you? Community is one of those words that has a different meaning to everyone, and everyone defines their community in a different way. That’s the amazing thing about community – your community is unique to you, because it starts with you and then reaches out based on your interests, the places that you go, the people that you see.

For us, community is what helps you when you ask and inspires you when you’re stuck – and you return the favour. It surprises you endlessly, and enables you to surprise yourself. We love community, and so we’re very proud that our You Can Check It Out Team founder member Ellie McKenny has been editing the Cambridge edition of the Community Lover’s Guide to the Universe – collecting stories by individuals about what community means to them, through the innovative community project they have been working on.

You can read the first stories here. Even better, you can come and meet the people behind the projects, share ideas and ways of working, and enjoy coffee and cake as part of a Community Lovers’ Meet Up during the Romsey Art Festival:

Wednesday 7th August

7pm to 9pm

CB1 Cafe, Mill Road, Cambridge

You Can Bike Too

You Can Bike Too in the early stages back in 2011!

Our project, You Can Bike Too, is one of the stories captured and members of the project team will be going along, together with the people behind the other stories captured too. Anyone who is interested in any of the Cambridge stories, or who is interested in community and doing things collaboratively is welcome! If you’re planning to come please email Ellie to give her an idea of numbers: emckenny@hotmail.com. Unfortunately the venue isn’t wheelchair friendly.

Find full details of the Romsey Art Festival here (another great community event!). You can find out more about Community Lover’s Guide to the Universe and explore the other editions from all over the world here.

You can see what You Can Bike Too is up to lately here.

We look forward to seeing you at CB1!

Lou Shackleton

Change-maker in Chief

Why is Danger Lou in Portland for the World Domination Summit?

Why Portland? Why the World Domination Summit?

Danger Lou and a robot

DangerLou and her Nemesis – The Robot of Mediocrity

#DangerLou is in Portland because 10 months ago, I took a risk. I knew that I’d seen the awesomeness that is Chris Brogan giving the best speech he ever gave from last year’s conference on vimeo.

I know that it is the conference to get to if we want to kick conformity’s ass and meet people trying to find different ways of living and earning.

I didn’t know that I definitely had the money to go. I did know that it would be very competitive to get tickets. So, I took a risk. I waited for the day and time to apply for a ticket and made myself a deal. If I put my name in the registration page and got a ticket, then I would find a way to get there. If I didn’t, I would be sure to catch up online.

I took a risk and the Universe decided I got a ticket; now, here I am in Portland. I inspired my co-conspirator Mel to take a risk too. So here we are, ready to meet you.

So if you are also in Portland, come and find us. Today, Friday, you may even spot Danger Lou in her cape alongside her nemesis, the robot of mediocrity. And if you are wondering what this Danger Lou thing is about – “Sure, it’s fun but what’s the point?” Then check out the Danger Lou trailer here and remember these three questions and prompts that Danger Lou is keen for everyone to explore and answer:

  1. Do something small that both scares and excites you every day
  2. Every superhero needs sidekicks
  3. Strike a pose – copied from your favourite superhero – it will help you feel like a superhero too*
  4. Define your impossible – what are you stopping yourself from even starting?
  5. Name your nemesis – what’s holding you back?

#DangerLou is about celebrating small risks, being playful and helping each other achieve our impossible Danger Lou is my not-so-secret identity – what’s yours?

What would happen if you answered the questions above? That’s why I’m in Portland. To help myself answer these questions while prompting you to answer them for yourself too. Meeting a whole ton of people who are revealing their superhero powers. And if you need a team of sidekicks, you can join the You Can community and we’ll do our best to keep you laughing and living and taking risks every day.

*Check out Amy Cuddy’s TED talk on the value of power poses and how they can help you.

So let me know – what’s your secret identity? I’d love to hear it, in the comments below…

Day 13 – Enough With The Planning, On With The Doing

Do something that both scares and excites you. This is day 13 of my 30 day Scare The Crap Out Of Myself Video Challenge.

Today is all about getting out there and doing. It was a big night tonight, where me and some incredible volunteers ran a Get Tech World Cafe event, bringing people together from all backgrounds and abilities to explore mobile technology with people with disabilities and older people. I have been holding onto this idea for 2 years, talking to epople in different settings. Today, was a great pilot event that helped me conquer my fear of doing…and doing some good while I am at it!

For the next 30 days I will post one video which will describe doing something that both scares and excites me, one learning point, and a take away. Join me through my ‘Hell yeah!’ moments and my ‘Oh Sh*t’ moments for the next 30 days and please do cheer me on!

Why on earth would you do this, Mel?

For Me: To bring some structure back in my life. To prove to myself that I can follow through. To document my journey at this scary time. To feel alive.

For You: Perhaps you are on a similar journey, thinking of making a change or needing to give yourself a kick in the bum to get going. I hope that following my journey will help you feel that you are not alone and inspire you to go out and do things that scare you too. Because in the end, it is by finding and doing something that makes you come alive that we truly start to make a dent in the world. Want to scare the crap out of yourself on film? Start your own challenge and let us know that you do! Share it on twitter with #stcoom (short for scarethecrapoutofmyself!)

Finally, Danger Lou, thank you so much for the inspiration. This is my journey towards Danger Me

Good for Nothing – The Quest Continues…

About a month ago, we posted a thought. An idea. Well, a question, really – are you good for something? There was a great piece on Radio 4 today about hacks and what they can achieve (scroll to 2 hours, 20 minutes in) and this seemed like a timely prompt for an update!

We’ve already teamed up with a web developer and a usability designer who are interested in helping to co-organise a Good for Nothing here in Cambridge and we’ll be meeting up over the next few weeks to start to make a plan of how it will work. We’re still looking for a co-organiser who specialises in Design and / or Communications. You can see the full job description and details in the previous post. If this is you, then – what are you waiting for?! Please get in touch on twitter and think about coming along to meet some of us at our social in March. If you know someone who fits the bill, please gift this information to them!

We’ve also had the first brave peeps sign up to express their interest in taking part in some hacks. Are you ready to join them? If so, sign up to this mailing list and you’ll get the latest info as and when we get it:


Lou Shackleton

Change-maker in Chief

How to Meet a Member of the Royal Family in Five *Easy* Steps…

1) Find someone who has something “impossible” that they want to achieve – “Aaran can’t cycle.” Pair them up with someone passionate about the thing they want to achieve (meet both Aaran and cycling fanatic Ruth)

2) Set about making the impossible possible – so that you can turn the phrase “Aaran can’t cycle” into “Aaran can cycle!”

3) Build momentum, recruit other cycling fanatics including Clive and Angela, and create a whole movement of people interested in creating cycling opportunities for everyone – and win a Cambridge Evening News Community Support Award for your efforts

4) Receive an invite from the Mayor of Cambridge to attend a very special event at which you will be presented to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

5) Find and dust off your best frock / suit / Sunday Best and turn up at Cambridge Guildhall at the appointed time – and make sure someone records what happens

And there you have it… Making your impossible possible. Who knows where it might lead?

When was the last time you did something impossible?

Lou Shackleton

Change-maker in Chief

Changing the world – down the pub

Last month, Mel and I attended #ccbbq2012 – The Creating Cambridge Big Summer BBQ, an event founded with the aim of bringing together the many different networking groups in Cambridge for more cross-pollination (and guess what, it rained!). Mel and I usually find that if you get us together in a space where there is also ginger beer or cider, we end up talking about changing the world. And this night was no exception.

It’s funny how an event with so many people wearing name badges taking over a beer garden can change the feel of the space, and what we found was that it actually made it easier to start conversations with complete strangers. And this is how we started a conversation with two people who weren’t even wearing name badges, and were just there for a leisurely Friday evening pint.

We joined a table with Dai and Mike, two researchers who are interested in sustainability. Since the beginning of You Can, we have talked about ideas of making sure that we are sustainable, and tried to explore what this means:

– projects that start with us but also build to have a sense of momentum that gives them a life beyond You Can

– working patterns that mean we have time for self care; pacing ourselves

– being aware of the potential impact of our work and trying to promote others’ awareness of their impact on their environment

To be honest it was pretty hard to find a way to put this into words. That’s where Dai and Mike come in. As soon as we started chatting with them, it turned that they are researching sustainability – not in the conventional environmental sense, but in three areas:

  • Economic
  • Environmental
  • Social

Economic sustainability – Most people can get their head around this, given the amount of time in the media dedicated to banking decisions and so on…Making sure that we’re finding a way to make money that is sustainable in the long term… trying to avoid things like the recent economic crisis.

Environmental sustainability – what most people think of as sustainability. Reducing our use of environmental resources, reducing our impact, carbon quotas and footprints, solar power and composting toilets.

Social sustainability – heard this term before? I didn’t think so.

We’re only just trying to get our heads around this. But how I understand it is this:

There are an awful lot of people in this country, in the world. And a lot of them are doing a job where they’re told what to do. There are people who have paid work. And there are people who are “living off the state” – receiving support in their income because they’re not able to do paid work. What if all of these people were actually motivated by doing what they wanted to do? What if they were all able to pace themselves in their work, so that they reduced the risk of burnout and were able to manage their own stress? What if they really understand their strengths and skills and could adapt their offer to bring value – economically, environmentally, and socially?

Then I saw this video from Chris Guillebeau, and I think the actions in it speak to all of these issues:

Thirteen minutes of your time – but well spent! This video speaks to the three types of sustainability as follows:

  • Economic – a “real” (hard cash) investment in the people who came to the conference.
  • Environmental – encouragement to those people to think about the impact of the investment made by each of them (although I’m not sure how all the plane fares to the conference factor in here!)
  • Social – not just a hard cash investment, but a “belief” element – investing in the people that came and encouraging them to “pass it on”

I’m still working on a definition of social sustainability. But for me, it’s about knowing myself, knowing my skills, and working out how to bring them to the world in ways that are both paid and unpaid, and in a way that promotes a connection between me and others. Creating social value.

What about you?

 

 

Lou Shackleton

Change-maker in Chief

Ride, Laugh and Experience Cycling Together

You Can Bike Together Flyer

Have a go at cycling with your friends

What better way to get some quality time with your friends than jumping on a bike together.    As you might already know, it is possible to hire our bikes from Milton Country Park most days. (Just make sure you book ahead by calling 01223 420 060) But what about those people that are new to cycling or who may need an extra hand getting started? From September we will have times on many Tuesdays where there are instructors on hand for help and support. So come along and give these amazing bikes a try with a friend!

New family fun days at Milton Country Park

You Can Bike Too Family Fun Days

Be Inspired – Enjoy Cycling Together

Have all of these Olympics and now Paralympics given you the cycling fever? The catch phrase of these events were ‘Inspire a Generation’, so we want to do our part. From now until the end of December on the last Sunday of every month we will have instructors available to introduce you and your families to our adaptive bikes of all sizes and shapes. Then, you can have a go at cycling together. What better way to spend a Sunday morning together with your family?

Bikes are a-coming…

I feel like things have been a long time a coming!! But we have what Angela (Project team member) calls some “action!”

Wheels For All (Cycling Projects) have loaned Milton Country Park four adaptive bikes which nudges up our total to seven bikes….plus of course the two-wheelers that we have for parents or anyone else to ride alongside the child or adult that they are supporting.

So what You Can Bike Too will do is use these whilst we collect our own ‘family’ of bikes! (I feel like we have ‘fostered’ these loan bikes for a short while….!)

The project team are very excited at the prospect of more bikes….and also very excited at the up and coming events planned.

1. Big Weeked on Parkers Piece, Saturday 7th July – This is a really exciting event because the Olympic Torch is coming to town! Ashfield Bikes are bringing their bikes for people to try out and we will have our volunteers and instructors helping out with lots of information! (And it was such a hit last time, Outspoken are bringing their fantastic Smoothie Maker Bike along too!)

While the Big Weekend continues on Sunday, our team re-locate to Milton Country Park for the Big Bike Ride.

2. Sunday 8th July –  The Big Bike Ride is going through Milton Country Park. You Can Bike Too will have a presence in the park so riders and support will see adaptive bikes. There is still time to register to cycle as part of the event and there are two routes to choose from.

So that’s this weekend covered… what next?

3. Sunday 15th JulyPark Life at Milton Country Park. Loads more fun for everyone!! As well as being able to meet the bike project, there are lots of other activities…. canoeing, water walking and circus skills to name a few!

Looking Ahead to August…

August sees the Paralympic Torch arriving at Milton Country Park on Saturday 25th! There will be lots of activities to try including the bikes at You Can Bike Too  – we won’t be missing the fun, and we’ll have more information closer to the time…

So onwards and upwards!! A busy Summer ahead for the team getting ready for all these events… Which one will we see you at?

Lou Shackleton

Change-maker in Chief