During the February half term students had the amazing opportunity to go on a trip to visit Christ’s College at Cambridge University. Wings of Hope was lucky enough to secure two separate visits to the university allowing even more students to take part in a unique and personalised visit of Christ’s College.

The day did not start as planned with many students getting delayed and being obliged to take rail replacement buses due to London underground trains not working. Once all the students had finally gathered everyone set off in the minibus to Cambridge.

Rajni comments on the trip:

‘It was a privilege and honour to take several Wings of Hope students to The Yusuf Hamied Centre at Christ’s College on a very cold February morning.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Ed Sharpe who looks after school visits and were quickly whisked away straight to The Yusuf Hamied Centre.

The Centre, a modern impressive building sitting comfortably alongside the old college buildings, proudly houses a state of the art theatre with a huge screen!  We were also able to visit the JCR and the other social spaces.’

Ed spoke to the students in detail about the admission procedure at Christ’s College as well as Cambridge University as a whole. The talk ended with a Q & A session with the students enthusiastically asking many questions.

Following this, Rajni proceeded to give a brief talk to the students explaining her connection with Dr. Yusuf Hamied and his contribution to Christ’s college and the Pharmaceutical industry as a whole.

After the talk everyone set off to the College Dining Hall where a delicious three course buffet lunch was served to everyone who attended the trip.

Unfortunately the weather continued to be dismal with rain setting in but this did not deter the students from having a look around the College and seeing the excellent facilities provided. All the students were extremely impressed by what the College had to offer.

The tour then continued with a visit around Cambridge University by foot to see the other Colleges, The Library and the building where Watson and Crick discovered DNA.

The day was polished off by a lovely walk along the river and a visit to the town square market where everyone was able to pick up some souvenirs.

All in all, it can be said it was a memorable trip.

The students who attended found the trip beneficial, enjoyable and provided us with some great feedback:

‘I would thoroughly recommend such trips to any other future WOHAA participants – it really is a great opportunity to discover how to make the right choices and tailor your university application so that you can achieve the best results. I am grateful to the Wings of Hope for offering me this brilliant opportunity’ Krithi from Heathfield School.

‘Thank you very much for organising the trip to Cambridge University. It was very beneficial as it was the first university I have ever visited so it was an eye opener as to what universities are like.  I particularly enjoyed the session we had with the interactive presentation as I learnt a lot of what universities are really like. The Yusuf Hamied Centre – a contribution by a past student, was certainly impressive.I also enjoyed walking around and seeing the sights as I have never been to cambridge before’ Jamie from Lady Margaret School.

‘The trip to Cambridge University was both educational and fun. I learnt a lot about the campus, the application process and campus life. This was a wonderful experience and I recommend it to anyone who may be considering applying to Oxbridge’ Rochelle from Heathfield School.

Speed Mentoring not Speed Dating

Wings of Hope Charity Enlist Top Young Professionals to Mentor Teenagers About the World of Work In One Afternoon, as Youth Unemployment Reaches 19-yr high

On Saturday 11^th February over 400 teenagers gathered, at the prestigious Royal College of Surgeons in Holborn for an afternoon of innovative speed mentoring by over sixty top young professionals. The event was hosted by The Wings of Hope Children’s Charity whose mission is to “Empower through Education”, with projects in the UK, India and Malawi. The event was targeted at 14-20 year olds who had exclusive access to professionals from over thirty industries including banking, law, accountancy, fashion, PR, event management, sustainability, music production, acting and enterprise. With eight-minute slots over a two-hour period, the students were able to get key insights into a wide variety of industries.

With youth unemployment at a 19-year high, entering the world of work is a daunting task. This event differs from usual career fairs, with useful interactive advice coming directly from the professionals – most of whom were under the age of 30. Smruti , 25, the organiser of the event says, “I have been involved with Wings of Hope since I was 17-years old and have grown up with the charity. I am privileged to have some great friends in top industries, all of whom have always wanted to mentor, but just haven’t found a route to do it or have very time-pressured jobs. I thought that we could replicate the speed-dating model for mentoring. That way the students get access to a large variety of industries, and mentors get to impart advice to a large number of students, all in one afternoon.”

Invitations of the event were sent out by YouTube video to all past and current participants of The Wings of Hope Achievement Award, as well as teachers. The up-take was huge, with teachers rushing to sign up the few remaining places for their students. Garry Bowe, Headmaster of Wellingborough School chartered a mini-bus from Northampton to Central London so that his students could attend the weekend event. “Our young people are entering an increasingly competitive jobs market and the greater understanding they can gain from young professionals the better informed they will be.  This mentoring event will contribute towards that”.

The Rt Hon Lord McNally, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords launched the event, commending Wings of Hope on the innovation and ambitiousness of the event. “When Rajni told me about the event, I thought gosh how are they going to pull this off, but I should not have been surprised – what a fantastic turnout for a Saturday afternoon!”

Feedback from the event was incredibly positive, with over 53% of student-mentees rating the event either 9 or above out of 10 and over 87% rating it 8 or above. Popular industries included entrepreneurship, acting, fashion, accountancy, medicine and law.

The Wings of Hope Speed Mentoring Workshop, Feb 11th 2012

The Wings of Hope Achievement Award (WOHAA) is a social-enterprise programme that gives over 15,000 secondary school students in years 9-13 in the UK, the opportunity to lead and organise events and projects whilst developing essential transferable skills in enterprise, leadership, communication, and teamwork. Examples of student projects include 72-hour football matches, lobbying the High Commissioner to Malawi, crossing every station on the London Underground and Quidditch matches. Supporters of the charity include Sir David Jason, Simon Bird from the Inbetweeners, Lord McNally, CEOs of Saatchi & Saatchi, Tata Consultancy Services and Edelman. Winners of WOHAA get an all expenses paid trip to India to teach at the partner schools and see first-hand where their funds are being used.

The industries covered at the event were:
Architecture and Arts
Acting & Theatre
Fashion & Event Management
HR & Headhunting
Entrepreneur
Trading and Equity Research
Academia and Politics
Accountancy
Banking
Consulting
Consulting & Finance
Economics
Media & Advertising
Music
Journalism & Publishing
Law: Solicitor
Law: Barrister
Engineering
Sustainability
Dentistry
Medicine
WOHAA Winners & Fundraising

Wings of Hope, Speed Mentoring – World of Work event photos:

60 top professionals, mentoring 400 students.

The Rt. Hon Lord McNally, launched the event. The backdrop of youth unemployment at a 19 year high highlighted the importance of the event for students of today

Founders of The Wings of Hope Dr Sri Ram and his wife Rajni Sriram at the Royal College of Surgeons event

Dawn Butler, Former Minister for Youth Enterprise and Civil Engagement closed the event, with a motivational rendition of “I know I can, be what I wanna be, if I work hard at it, I’ll be where I wanna be”

Smruti, Head of the Professionals’ Network for the Wings of Hope, organised the event

Everyone say “WOHAA!”

Speed Mentoring Countdown Clock and Gong. 8 minutes per industry station were given to mentors and mentees.

View from the Top: Balcony view of the Edward Lumley Hall at the Royal College of Surgeons

Students giving an interview about the event to WOHAA winner 09/10 Georgina Robb

Architecture and Arts – Kate Jones from the Royal Institute of British Architects and The V&A museum

Acting & Theatre – Youtube sensation Matt Lacey (“Gap Yah”) tells students about his acting and stand-up comedy experiences

Fashion & Event Management – teams from Topshop, Jackson Couture and Instinctif

HR & Headhunting – teams from Fashion Fair, and Whistles

HR & Headhunting

Entrepreneur – Tom Latchford, Raising IT being interviewed about his experiences of setting up his own business as a graduate

Entrepreneur – Siddharth Singh, Made with Joy, tells students about the thrills of setting up a business and the reality of sustaining it

Trading and Equity Research – Jerome and Zvetelina abour their experiences on the trade floor at top Investment Banks in the City

Trading and Equity Research – Mayan Uthayakumar on his experiences of further study in finance and now in Equity Research

Academia and Politics – Dawn Butler, former Minister of Youth Enterprise on running elections. Temi from the University of Cambridge on a career in academia.

Accountancy – Seita and Neil from top accountancy firm PwC on their experiences on the graduate programme

Banking – Charlie Spencer, from top investment bank, Rothschild, on life as an investment banker in the current economic climate.

Consulting – Business Strategy Consultants, Jennifer and Amit from Deloitte and British Airways

Consulting

Consulting & Finance – Sagar and Raj on their experiences in financial consulting and their previous roles in consultancy roles at the Clinton Foundation and Bain & Co

Consulting & Finance

Economics – top economists from the Bank of England, and Her Majesty’s Treasury, Amar Radia, Sagar Shah and Nitika Agarwal

Economics

Feedback from student attendees

Media & Advertising – Samira tells the packed student table of her experiences in the Future Media team at the BBC

Music – James Anderson giving students the “real-deal” on music production and working in the music industry with a variety of artists.

Journalism & Publishing – Bella tells students about life in Publishing at top publishing company Random House, and Madhu on life as an assistant editor at Wired Magazine.

Law: Solicitor – Deepak, Cameron and Nikita were mentoring the very popular law table – all working at top city law firms, including Clifford Chance, and Fox Williams

Law: Solicitor

Law: Barrister – Adam spoke to students about life as a student for the Bar, whilst Clare and Annabel spoke about their jobs working in different courts as real-life barristers

Engineering – Pulkit and Ritika enthused students about the importance of engineering in all aspects of life.

Sustainability – Ed and Luke spoke about their differing roles in sustainability, with Ed talking about working at energy company BP. Luke talked about the importance of sustainability on all corporate agendas

Dentistry – Binita and Rajan had a very popular table. With students grilling them about how to get into university as well as working in a real life dental practice.

Medicine – Romelie and Sarah offered practical and useful advice to students, from gaining work experience at GP practices to working in a fast-paced hospital environment

Medicine – Mandy and Mel spoke of their experiences as doctors, having trained and studied at Imperial College London

WOHAA Winners & Fundraising – Hamza and Georgina inspired other students to participate in the Wings of Hope Achievement Award. Hamza was a winner in 08/09 and travelled to India to visit to the school

The World of Work

• DATE: Saturday 11th February 2012
• TIMINGS: 1.30pm registration. Prompt start at 2pm. Mentoring ends 4pm.
• VENUE: Royal College of Surgeons, 35-43 Lincolns Inn Fields,  London, WC2A 3PE
• GETTING THERE: Nearest Tube Station: Holborn (Central Line, Piccadilly Line)
• MAP
• OPEN TO: current WOHAA participants, WOHAA alumni and friends of WOHAA participants aged between 14-20 years old. Limited places for teachers and parents – available upon request.
• No entry will be permitted without pre-registration online

The Wings of Hope is so pleased with everyone’s efforts for WOHAA this year! All the teams have done amazingly so far and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for the New Year. We’re sure all the teams are going to do a great job and come up with some brilliant ways to fundraise to support poor and orphaned children in India and Malawi!

One team called the Tired Nutters from Archbishop Tenison’s High School are currently trying to break the broadcasting record! This means they have to broadcast a radio show for a continuous 61 hours! You can listen to it live on: http://www.teenfm.co.uk/ and you can read more about their efforts by clicking the image of the News article below.

We wish everyone participating in WOHAA the best of luck and thank you for all doing a tremendous job!

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‘I chose to support WOHAA because I loved the entrepreneurial and educational aspect of the awards. The structure of the awards encourages the entrants to call upon a raft of skills including brainstorming creative initiatives, fundraising and encouraging participation from consumers, peers and support via media. The teams really bond and learn a great deal about planning events, supporting each other and working through issues. The fact that there is a tangible deliverable at the end of this process, beyond these learnings, makes the awards even more terrific. Awareness is raised and funds are nailed for this wonderful educational resource for kids in India and Africa.

I have been lucky enough to see this at first hand as a panellist for the Awards. Seeing the sheer effort and enthusiasm from such a wide spectrum of schools and pupils has been heartening. I also ran a PR workshop for some of the pupils and their desire to learn and to be commercially and marketing aware as part of this process was extremely motivating – even more so when I saw them take their key learning’s from the workshop and implement them in their award submissions’.

Jackie Cooper
Creative Director & Vice Chair
Edelman

WOHAA has got off to a flying start this year! Loads of teams have formed and have already come up with some fantastic ideas to fundraise for the Wings of Hope. Ideas have included a 26 mile long walk around London, charity concerts, Halloween events and much more. Further plans have been formed by teams to hold large events later in the year including dinners, balls and fashion shows which we are really looking forward to. Teams have also been raising awareness about the Wings of Hope and its mission by having their events and stories featured in the local press. One team was even lucky enough to talk about the Wings of Hope on BBC London Radio and have it broadcast on a Saturday morning.

Even teachers are having fun and are extremely enthusiastic about WOHAA:
‘All our teams at Surbiton are getting on well with WOHAA and have set themselves high fundraising targets! All the teams have spoken in assemblies about Wings of Hope and are raising lots of awareness both in and out of school. It’s a really good scheme and I think lots of our younger pupils in the school are looking forward to doing it in subsequent years!’.

Ms Pett – Surbiton High School.

Winners of WOHAA have the unique opportunity to have work experience with some of the top UK employers and globally recognised companies. Here is the testimonial of a WOHAA 2010/2011 winner who had the chance to gain a prestigious work experience placement at Saatchi and Saatchi.

‘My experience at Saatchi & Saatchi will be something I will never forget. As I was walking up Charlotte Street I was nervous and excited just thinking about what I would have to do for the rest of the week at this legendary company. When I stepped into the halls of Saatchi & Saatchi I could feel the creativity bouncing off the walls. In the reception area the funky furniture and the plasma screen showing their latest advertising campaigns had me in awe. Soon after I was greeted and given a tour around the office which was huge! It was amazing to see how many different counter parts make up this huge company.

Next I was shown to the office which would be my home for the following week. From my first hour I was already consumed into the world of advertising. By the end of my first day I felt I had consumed a world of information and experience as I was made to make phone calls on behalf of Saatchi & Saatchi.

The next day I was given a specific task that taught me about other advertising companies which gave me a wide range of information about brands and how they want their products advertised. I also got to go into a few meetings throughout the week, this opened my eyes to the way people work together and what the end product is meant to be. I also learnt how colleagues interact with each other.

In the office I was in the whole week I worked with two other women who headed up the PR department and the New Business part of the company. They both gave me really interesting tasks everyday which gave me a wide range of experience throughout the week. They also told me about their experiences at Saatchi & Saatchi and about how their jobs influenced all the different parts of the company.

Overall this experience will stay with me forever as I had an amazing time and with that I learnt a lot which I use in my every day life. Now I understand why Saatchi & Saatchi is so legendary, as the work they produce is one of a kind and the people who create it are true geniuses.

I would like to thank you so much for setting up the work experience for me! I learnt so much and will keep this experience with me forever.’

Shaya

Want to take part in a prominent and notorious event? Fancy a challenge? Want to wow friends and family with what you can achieve?

Well we have the perfect answer! Support the Wings of Hope by taking part in the official annual 2012 British 10K London run.

2012 is looking to be a historic year for London with the unveiling of the 2012 Olympics, the Queens Diamond Jubilee and not forgetting the British 10K London Run. So why not join 25,000 runners and over 40,000 spectators to take part in this world renowned run held in the heart of Central London which passes many of the capitals most famous landmarks on the way. This is one of the most prestigious runs in the UK and is considered by many to be one of the world’s greatest running routes. So much so that parts of it will be used in the marathons of the 2012 Olympics!

The run will take place on Sunday the 8th July 2012. Places are extremely limited and will be filled on a first come first served basis. So please contact us now to register your intent to run before places become unavailable. Unfortunately demand to take part in the 2012 London Run will exceed availability.

So if you are interested in taking part in this event then please get in contact with the Wings of Hope office either by email: Email: info@thewingsofhope.org or Tel number: 020 8438 1598

The opportunity to sign up to participate in WOHAA 2011/2012 is very soon coming to a close. If you are interested in participating in WOHAA this year then be quick as the deadline to register a team is the 30th of November 2011.

The Wings of Hope team are still currently taking bookings to visit school assemblies up until the 30th of November. We will then be taking bookings for the next academic year. We would be delighted to come and tell students all about the Wings of Hope Achievement Award scheme (WOHAA) which is a completely FREE social enterprise scheme offered to students in years 9 – 13.

For all those participating, students form a team of up to 6 and are challenged to come up with different ideas to fundraise for the Wings of Hope – the more creative and innovative the better! We want students to think outside the box!

Students who participate will also get the opportunity to attend free industry skills workshops with our corporate partners. This will provide them with an insight into various industries whilst helping them think about different career paths. They are also given vital CV, application form and interview advice.

Teams are then shortlisted to present their achievements and projects at the House of Lords in front of a panel of esteemed judges, including Sir David Jason from Only Fools and Horses and Executive Directors from our corporate supporters.

Every student who participates is invited to our award ceremony at Wembley where they get to celebrate their achievements. This is where we also announce the winners of the 6 different categories. The prize that everyone has their eye on is first place as the overall winning team will have a once in a life time opportunity to go on an all expenses paid trip to India. This is something completely unique and will give the winners the opportunity to visit our project in action! The winners will experience the whole charitable process and see first hand where the money that they raised is spent. Other amazing prizes include exclusive work experience placements with our corporate partners.

Furthermore the scheme compliments the national curriculum as WOHAA fits in perfectly with Business and Enterprise, PSHE, citizenship, DofE volunteering, CAS element of the IB, the AQA Baccalaureate and much more!

So are you a teacher or student who wants us to visit your school? Why not contact us to book an assembly!
Are you a student who wants to sign up? Register now before it’s too late!

Remember that participating in WOHAA is completely FREE and you will not be charged for anything at any point.