UNICEF Tagd recently organised a weekend away for young campaigners in Gilwell Park Scout Activity Centre in Essex. Former J8 UK representative Harry Phinda tells us about the workshops - and wizards.
The weekend had
young people from all over the UK
who had been involved with UNICEF previously, looking to improve their campaigning
skills and become great UNICEF ambassadors.
Young people play an icebreaker game outside. © UNICEF UK/2010/Alice Bottini-Hall
The weekend kicked off
with all the introductions being made and setting the ground rules which were
reasonable considering we were all very responsible young people. We went to sleep early to make sure we were fully awake
for breakfast and ready to learn.
We got up early in
the morning, some people still looking like their face was on the floor. But
with some coffee and Coco Pops, we were all ready to go. I was most excited
about the climate change section - this
is what I’m really interested in and essentially what got me involved in
UNICEF. After covering the basics, we moved on to how we can actively play a
part at home - for example by switching lights off and finding other ways to
get around, like walking instead of using cars.
The most surprising
part of the weekend was the public speaking, which I personally learnt the most
from. It really helped me become a more confident speaker. After an intense day
of learning about climate change, child poverty and online blogging, we had a
beautiful camp fire to finish the day. Although it wasn’t so beautiful when I
went home and all my clothes smelt like smoke!
This has really
inspired me and I look forward to working with UNICEF more, and becoming that
one change for a bigger cause.
And what about the wizards?
Well, we did act as giants, wizards and elves in an epic ice breaker battle in the chilling frost of
Sunday morning Essex!