building for the future

I can hardly believe that my first ever post for Kids First was this day last year. I was talking about packing up our things from the old Woolworths Head Office in Marylebone. How lonely it felt being on the ground floor without the hundreds of people that we used to see on a daily basis.

One of the many things that I have learned in my first year as CEO is the value of placing your beneficiaries at the heart of everything that you do. it’s a well known fact that Kids First is trying to re-establish itself financially after the collapse of Woolworths but alongside this we have been planting seeds of change within our organisation and how we want to work going forward.

Everything that we do. Every single thing is about our beneficiaries.

Placing kids at the heart of what we do means that we will  be putting a Kids Panel in place this year.  They will sit alongside the Executive team and feed into the Board of Trustees. To be easily understood by the very group that we seek to serve is important and to get them to shape our organisation as it goes forward is key to this.

We are also introducing a Children’s Judging Panel to our Playground Partnerships scheme.  It’s about time we got peers deciding which of their counterparts are going to get financially rewarded.

How we communicate what we do and why we do it, is about understanding our donors and what they want.  We have spent a lot of time working on new processes and procedures to enable us to bring consistency of message to our organisation too. Embracing the mediums needed to communicate effectively has been a key driver to our success this past year too.

Today we welcomed two new members to our team concentrating solely on helping us build the funds to continue changing children’s lives for the better. We have been shortlisted for a prestigious charity of the year partnership and life feels much better than that lonely day in cold office surrounded by boxes and furniture.

Here’s to building for the future and to all the people that are helping us make it happen.

Running for a Reason by Chris Meadows

They say there are two types of people who run marathons, those who tick it off the list and never do it again and those who get bitten by the bug. I , like so many finished my first London Marathon in 2005 delighted but exhausted. It was a red hot day and I had aches and pains all over. I bent over to rest and nearly passed out! One of the many wonderful volunteers put a medal around my neck and I shuffled off to find my family. My sister got to me first, I went to speak and instead burst into tears but as my family gathered in a mass group hug I had already decided I wasn’t done with this!

About a year earlier I had been diagnosed with a serious illness that I am not going to bore you with the details of. Suffice to say I am still here (and fitter than ever). I was working for that now defunct retail giant Woolworths and was well aware of their charity organisation Kids First. Two things fitted together instantly, firstly my desire to run a marathon, it was on my list too. Secondly , I had a tough enough time when I was ill but I couldn’t help but notice the young children going through the same things. At such a tender age it was heart breaking, if I could help them by raising some funds all the better!  I admit to a third selfish reason. The great Lance Armstrong said of his illness and subsequent achievements ” I can’t be that ill if a can complete the Tour de France”  Thats also why I wanted to do a Marathon. If I could complete it, I couldn’t be that ill could I??

This year will be my fourth London Marathon, it will also mean I have ran in four different countries for Kids First (I have an idea for the fifth Debbie!)

I don’t know if you ever get used to the training plans but I guess I know whats required. Combine that with my penchant for reading about “against the odds” achievers such as Jane Tomlinson, Lance and Michael.J.Fox and I know my motivation will again be sky high on race day!

Last but definately not least is the support of my wonderful family. My partner Claire “Miss Wellworths” Robertson whose branch also supports Kids First, once the training plan kicks in for January she just lets me get on with it and prays it will be my last! It never is! And the kids Daniel and Alice, always ready to nick any wine gums I have left at the end of a run. Alice arrived while I was in recovery from my illness so I couldn’t be THAT ill could I?

 You can support me at http://www.justgiving.com/chrisVLM. Happy running!

Chris

Trail shoes or treadmill/Dizzee or Brandon?

Now that Christmas is done with it is time to really focus on the training and start following a proper plan. Just running two or three times a week will no longer do. It is time to concentrate and have a goal for each run. At the time of writing I have just 3 months and 14 days to get ready for the London Marathon.

My brother gave me a very helpful book over the festive period written by Liz Yelling, one of Britains top female runners. Until starting the book I thought that you could just put one foot in front of the other and leg it, but I am starting to understand a litte bit more about the technicalities and how to get more out of each run.  I am in week 2 of Liz’s twelve week beginner marathon plan and it is going well so far.  This morning was a 65 minute extravaganza which included a bit of a walk, a bit of a jog and a lot of a ’steady run’. I was pleased with how it went and even more pleased that I had burned off 780  calories before breakfast.

The only tricky thing at the moment is the mental weather. I am not a fan of the treadmill and whilst I am lucky enough to have one in the garage I prefer not to use it. However, with the treachorous pavements and constant snow over the past 5 days running outside in my basic running shoes has not been an option. But fear not, my shiny new trail shoes are now on their way so next week I shall be quitting the freezing garage and heading out on to the chilly streets  – whatever the weather.

As well as learning about shoes and types of running I am also learning new stuff about music. I have discovered that the music on my ipod makes a massive difference to my pace and motivation. I have always loved my music and there are always bands that make me laugh, bands that make me cry and bands that just make me want to dance. I have always had a pretty eclectic music taste but I have now realised that some bands are probably just made for running.  I thought I had left my garage and techno days in the Brunel Rooms way back in the early nineties but I am now discovering a new use for all of that ‘noise’. My son has a new found love for the Black Eyed Peas (thanks Auntie Clare) which I wouldn’t normally admit to listening to, and probably wouldn’t have in the past, but for running - they totally rock. Dizzee Rascal is another excercise hero. I know that most people think that he is pretty cool and he is very talented but I am not sure that I would normally have bothered. However, he is another one that makes the pavements much easier to pound.  I was lucky enough to recieve a new ipod nano for crimbo which is fab because my shuffle was never going to get me through 26 miles without repeating each song at least 3 times. And while I am on the subject, why do some songs get played more often when you are shuffling than others? I am sure that there is a technical reason for this so answers on a postcard please.  The only slight concern with my new ‘music machine’ is that Mr Rascal is not really suitbale for my AM commute, I like a bit of Bonkers but first thing in the morning it is just a bit too much. Therefore my task for the week is to sort out two playlists. One called ‘running’ and the other called ‘train’, that way I won’t get any unexpected banging techno in my ears of a morning.

Music that makes me go faster; Ting Tings, Dizzee Rascal, Black Eyed Peas, Fatboy Slim,Foo Fighters and some of The Killers ( but defo not all).

Music that slows me right down; The rest of The Killers, Kings of Leon, Blur (weird because I love Blur), The Magic Numbers and The Ministry of Sounds Electronic Eighties Anthems (a brilliant album at all other times).

Anyway, I am 29% of the way there with my fundraising so if you would like to help get me closer to the vital £1500 that I have committed to raising for Kids First please click here. It will be very much appreicated.

1 of 30

Happy New Year everyone!

We are delighted to announce that we have been chosen as a top 30 charity by the wonderful Gary Marlow of Global Tennis. Gary is undertaking to raise £300,000 over the course of 2010, the year he turns 30; by completing 30 challenges for 30 charities.

It’s called the Do 30 project.

Gary has already completed a swimathon on New Years day – amazing!  We are trying to come up with something suitable for Gary to undertake as his Kids First challenge… if you have any ideas then pop them in the comments box.

Over to you!

Please allow me to introduce myself…. (by Nicole Kavanagh)

The lovely Nicole looking glam before training

Hi my name is Nicole Kavanagh and I’m attempting to run a marathon. Though attempting is not quite the word, I’m going to finish it….even if it means dragging my body over the line! I’ve realised that training for a marathon puts you in a exclusive little club, the one where people spend a lot of time going ohhhhhhhhh or why would you want to do that or purely just laughing at you, not with you, most definitely at you.

Anyway, a little bit about me. I work in IT mainly spending my days hunched over a pc so in my spare time I’m a rugby player, a rugby watcher, a rugby shouter and a pint drinker! I also love cooking and eating. I feel all these things obviously set me up very well to run a marathon non? 

So for the girl who spends most of her life trying to just find enough time to sleep, why would I attempt a marathon? It’s always something I’ve wanted to do, purely for selfish reasons. I just wanted to complete it once and just know that I had really pushed my body to the limits. I fell very ill just over 18 months ago. At the time I couldn’t do anything and had to have some serious surgery. It left me feeling very low and unsure about who I was anymore and also gutted at the changes it had on my body and how it responds. So I set myself a goal, to get myself fit enough to run the reading half marathon the following March. It was a hard year and at times I had no idea how I was ever going to feel well enough to do it. The medal sits dusty in a draw now, but the feeling of crossing that line, of being able to put a very bad year behind me still sticks in my head. The achievement, although raised money for charity was all about me, my own personal battle. I now want to put that personal grit and determination to good use in raising money for Kids First Trust and it will be nearly exactly 2 years since my surgery. I want to prove all the people that doubt me wrong and also show others that even at your lowest there is a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Then a little over a year ago, due to the surgery I had I met a wonderful person named Gloria. Gloria inspires me every day, the work she does, the drive she has and the passion for Kids First Trust is amazing. She taught me some things about myself about not being scared to go for my dreams. So when I got given the opportunity to run the London Marathon raising money for the fantastic work Kid First Trust does I couldn’t turn it down, that and the promise from my trainer that I would be a size 8 by March!

 So wish me luck on my way, if you see a little blonde plodding the streets of Wokingham, give me a wave! Also if you fancy reaching into your pockets and throwing some money towards my cause please click here http://www.justgiving.com/Nicole-Kavanagh

one step at a time…

In the end, the pitch went ok… but for a wee while in the morning I must confess I nearly pulled out.

I have been humbled by the talent that was all around me today & slightly intimidated by all the talk about “return on investment” but then ClearlySo is a business event… as someone representing a charity it can feel like just because the return on investment is not in the form of cash that people will not be all that interested.

Wrong!

The pitch is a blur to me now but here’s basically the essence of what I said

I’m Gloria from Kids First Trust, a children’s charity established by Woolworths. The main thing we do is empower children. We do this by allowing 4 – 10yr olds to redesign their playgrounds and then win a grant to build them; because play is the work of children. Through the scheme the children develop skills & competencies that are vital to their development. We’ve been progressing through our own chaos since Woolworths collapse but we intend to take our national programme outside of just the school sytem and internationally eventually. I need your time, talent and your money to help make that happen. Please come and see me afterwards if you’re interested.

I don’t know what my time was but it wasn’t 45 seconds as I didn’t get stopped.

I do remember feeling slightly concerned that maybe it wasn’t the right marketplace for me to be making my pitch but in fact several people ranging from potential investors to partner organisations came up and spoke to me afterward.

Who knows where it will lead? Even if there is no funding from this, I have gained valuable experience today and a renewed determination.

We’ll get there.

Pitch Update – Progress through Chaos

Its the afternoon before the morning after.

Thanks to a number of helpful and lovely people I’ve been able to get my head around what I want to say.  These things are so nerve-wracking at first. The KF team are so incredibly positive all of the time but the fact is that we are fighting for survival and its hard work.

The charity has achieved a lot since it was established and this year has been fantastic but we have plans for the future and its my responsibility to see those to fruition. I feel very responsible for ensuring that we continue what we do. Especially when I get school reports through, like the one from Wilden Lower School today that say things like:

We learnt a lot from the playground partnership work, not least just how much children can achieve given the opportunities to act independently once pointed in the right direction.

Children are more than capable of making good decisions if given the chance. They know what works for them and what doesn’t. Sometimes we, as adults, don’t give them enough credit. A scheme like Playground Partnerships throws conventionality out of the school window and places kids at the heart of the process. Why?

Because we believe in empowering them.

We include a lot more child led learning opportunities in our curriculum now….

See, it works. An entire school curriculum approach has been changed because of Playground Partnerships!

The awarding of the money is an important part of what the scheme is about but the first and foremost thing we at Kids First are interested in is child development. Its imperative to build in the opportunity for children to develop life skills that they will need in the future.  By allowing them to take control and achieve, their confidence is also increased.

Every area of Every Child Matters was well met and clarified during the project as was recognised in our recent Ofsted Inspection, “Pupils took a leading role in designing, costing and putting into effect recent major playground improvements. This project made a good contribution to the development of skills relevant to their future.”

So tomorrow I am going to talk about all the above and where we are going. All in 45 seconds!

Thank you to (in no particular order)

• Lucy Buck
• Thomas Heiser
  
• Chris Smith
  
• Steve Heyes
  
• Josef Davies-Coates
  
• Trevor Dahl
  
• Richard Leyland
• Adelle Roberts
• Ben Rowswell
• Christine Charles

for advice, support, cups of tea and much needed encouragement.

There is no shame in an eleven minute mile

A soggy finish

It has been a whole month since my last post but the training for the 2010 Virgin London Marathon continues.

So, what’s changed? Not an awful lot if I am honest. I am still managing to get out three times a week and have even managed some hills which I had previously gone out of my way to avoid. I am not really getting any faster but I am still enjoying it. Now that the autumn has rolled in and the weather is ‘changeable’ the kids are bringing a different cough or cold home from school for me to catch every week. This is hampering speed but not my enthusiasm so surely that is half the battle.

Last Sunday I reached another milestone; my first organised 10k. I had trawled the internet and found that the Rainforest Foundation had one scheduled for 1st November. The date was right in terms of increasing my distance so I booked myself and Karl on to it and arranged for my Mum to have the kids, the intention being that they came along and watched.

For those of you with a keen interest in the weather you will remember that the 1st of November turned out to be London’s wettest day of the year so far. When I first woke up last Sunday morning it was still dry and a little bit sunny, things were looking hopeful and I just figured that the met office had got it wrong. However, by the time I had been bullied out of bed and down the stairs by Violet in need of her breakfast things in the sky had taken a turn for the worse. The clouds were thick, the trees were waving around like mad things and the rain was pelting down on the flat roof of our kitchen making those LOUD pitter patter sounds associated with many a British caravan holiday. 

Suddenly, getting to and running around Finsbury Park seemed like a bit of an effort. I fed the kids, my mother and myself and then sent the small people up to jump on Karl and find out if he was up for this run or not. His reply, expertly delivered by Alfie, was “he’ll do it if you are doing it, are you doing it Mummy?”.  The rain was louder now but my beans on toast had set me up for the day and being put on the spot like that made my mind up for me. “Tell Daddy, yes I am” I yelled up the stairs.

The weather being as rubbish as it was, it was decided that Alfie and Violet would remain at home with Granny so Karl and I set off up the road to catch the train to Victoria and then on to Finsbury Park. By the time we had reached Kent House Station my feet, arms and legs were all ready wet through but it was too late to turn back, the decision was final.  On arriving at Finsbury Park 50 minutes later it seemed much wetter and windier than it had been ‘down sowf’ and although 2ooo runners had been expected it looked like we were 2 of about 12 that had turned up! By the time  it was warm up time at 10.50am a few more had made an appearance and we all gamely stretched and jogged on the spot in our rain coats.

The hooter went off on time at 11.15 and I set off next to Karl but to be honest, it wasn’t fun. The rain was honking down heavier and heavier and although I had shed one layer I was still in my rain coat which soon became quite heavy. After about 2k it was clear that Karl is faster than me. This was annoying because he hadn’t run for ages but I am much happier at my own pace so let him trot off up the hill in front of me. I hadn’t realised quite how small or hilly Finsbury Park was and whilst size isn’t everything doing circuits of a hilly park on a very yucky day felt a bit frustrating.

By the time I saw Karl for the second time I had shed my rain coat and was just ahead of the halfway marker. I wasn’t best pleased at that time and seeing as the half way mark was the same as the start and finish of the race I did consider giving up. But being a Taurus, that is not an option so I finally got into my stride and by about 5 1/2 k I started to enjoy myself. I still didn’t enjoy the many hills that were now covered in slippy leaves but as the cliche goes, what goes up has to come down and the thought of the down bit kept me going.  On the last 2k of the race we had to run up and down the same bit of road three times but at least it was familiar territory. I eventually finished, soggy right through in 1 hr and 5 mins. This is not as quick as I would have liked but considering the strength of the wind on the final (3) home straits and the constant rainfall I was pretty pleased that it wasn’t longer. Plus, the fastest woman was only 18 minutes quicker and Karl was only 7 minutes quicker so all in all a good mornings work and a nice distance to have under my belt. As it happens I was 416th out of 550 so must do better next time.

For the last couple of days I have been suffering from a nasty cough which doesn’t help the asthma so I hadn’t run since last Sunday.  But, I must have the bug because I have missed it. So tonight I went off down the garage (in these dark nights the treadmill is my friend) and did a 5k with one stop for a quick cough. I feel good for pushing myself today and although I was nearer to doing 11 rather than 10 minute miles, with a mild chest infection, where is the shame in that?  You can support me at http://www.justgiving.com/thehoods

45 Seconds to Progress through Chaos

On Monday 2nd November I received an email from Theresa Burton, a lady that I met some months ago informing me that her company had three complimentary tickets to this event.  The first three people to reply to the email would receive a ticket and the opportunity to make a 45 second pitch for funding support.

Yes, folks that really is 45 SECONDS.

I have written my first draft and practiced it in front of a camera so that I can gather your valuable opinions. I have never pitched for 45 seconds before…  I will use all your feedback to tweak the pitch to gain my entry to the Dragons Den that the conference has towards the end of the day and then I’ll do what I do.

The theme of the conference is: PROGRESS THROUGH CHAOS

I thought this seemed quite apt given our history with Woolworths, who incidentally would have celebrated their 100th year with a big Kids First bang had they been around on our high streets…

Thank you to Theresa Burton for the opportunity and Lucy Buck, Thomas Heiser, Josef Davies-Coates & Chris Smith for their support, advice and assistance.

Over to you…

In case you can’t hear the words they are:

Hi I’m Gloria from Kids First.  Kids First Trust is a national charity established by Woolworths, passionate about the wellbeing and development of children.

Our programmes give practical assistance to help implement children’s ideas. For example, our Playground Partnerships Awards scheme has uspported 40,000 children to redesign their play spaces whilst developing life skills and competencies designed to help them grow up to be confident, positive leaders in the future.

We are proud to be progressing through the chaos following Woolworths demise. I invite you to be part of our journey to continue children’s lives for the better.

Going to bed with a dream, waking up with a purpose.

Seems as though I’ve just blinked and its now October!  Its been a year since our first ever Gigs First, which we held whilst we were still Woolworths Kids First and since then soooo much has happened.

I think it’s useful from time to time to take stock and allow the journey to sink in.  It’s been tough at times, our workloads have ramped up, fundraising has been hard.

We’ve had some fantastic news recently too in August we applied to The Media Trust for a chance to have one of their volunteer film-makers produce a short documentary about Kids First.  We have now received a confirmation letter to say that we are definitely getting one made!  Hopefully in early December we will be able to showcase our documentary

I am just preparing my first ever Annual Report which I initially felt a little daunted by but now I feel so incredibly proud of everything we have done in the most difficult of circumstances.

Since February we have:

• Changed our name
• Moved house
• Designed our first ever website
• Been featured in the press
• Produced our 2nd Gigs First raising £750
• Persuaded our Trustees to run the Playground Partnerships scheme with our reserves
• Rewritten the material for Playground Partnerships
• Redesigned the website to take the PP resources wholly online
• Attended scores of pitching meetings
• Developed an ethical code to help guide us on our corporate partnerships
• Designed a Kids First partnerships brochure
• Skydived despite being terrified of heights
• Launched the Playground Partnerships Scheme nationally
• Started training for the London Marathon
• Welcomed Kath and Gos as Volunteers at Kids First
• Connected with lots of other like-minded charitable organisations
• Met with some of our 2008 Playground Partnerships winning schools
• Attended meetings at London Play and Lambeth Play Association
• Connected with Michael Norton, fundraising guru and been accepted as a “pioneer venture” for his new scheme
• Got more involved with The Hub Members Council and Charities Forum
• Produced the Red Carpet’s Little Rug
• Worked with GK Partners to produce a business plan

and more!

One thing that keeps me going above all else is the knowledge that every single day I get out of bed and get a step closer to realising the dream:  to change children’s lives for the better.

Is it worth the blood, sweat, tears and terror (of falling out the sky)?

Yep!