Shine this is me - Newsletter summer 2014

E: [email protected] with photos, messages and ideas for your club!www.thisisme.org.uk

I am Nic Shaw, Shine’s new part-time Youth Work Coordinator. I’m from the lakes, Morecambe Bay, in the north-west of England. In summer, it’s a bit warmer than winter, and in winter it’s absolutely freezing!

I have moved around quite a lot: in my late teens, I moved to Germany to study and went to a mountaineering school in Austria; then I moved and live in Canada for several years. Some of the things that I like to

Registered Charity No. 249338 Summer 2014

Let’s Connect!

Nic Shaw, Shine’s part-time Youth Work Coordinator

Rowan the radio whizz-kid!Hello, my name is Rowan Ford and I am a 19 year old young man from South Devon. I am involved in lots of activities including working with a charity called Hannah’s in Seale Hayne – more on that later on. I also volunteer for a charity called Devon Youth Service where I am a youth worker.

My other activities includes horse riding and radio broadcast production with two radio stations – one of them at Hannah’s as mentioned before, and I’m a presenter

on Torbay hospital radio on a Monday evening from 7-9 pm.

Events organisingAt Hannah’s, I am the assistant radio station manager where I focus on helping to run some of the sessions alongside the

station Manager, Carl Munson. I organise radio events through the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust and for any other event enquiry that comes into the radio station – it’s my job to help organise it from the radio perspective.

My other main job role is as the Assistant Volunteer Youth Worker at Devon Youth Service. We operate from a youth centre in Dawlish and some of my responsibilities include working behind the coffee bar and manning the phones in the office.

Rowan, at his Assistant Radio Manager desk

get up to is climbing, walking, and mountain biking – anything that involves me getting out with my dog called Tick!

I would love to meet up with as many young people as possible connected to Shine to help inspire and empower you. I am working on forming a network of young people affected by spina bifida and hydrocephalus through getting involved in Shine events, through social media, and by getting together for coffee – read more about my Coffee Project on page 2.

Get in touch with me on T: 01733 421367 or E: [email protected]

i s Eh i mSTNewsletter

Do you like Irish dancing?

My name is Chelsea Irwin, I am 14, and I am from Derry in Northern Ireland. I live with my mum and dad, and I have two brothers and a sister. I also have a pet dog called Murphy – she is a black labrador.

I am absolutely in love with One Direction, especially Niall Horan, and I also like Bruno Mars. I’ve been Irish Dancing since I was about five or six. I stopped for a couple of years and changed to a new dancing school and I like it much better now. During my time dancing, so far, I have won 18 medals and I have danced at three shows in our town hall.

Shine member, Chelsea Irwin, LOVES it!

The Coffee ProjectOne of the great things about being part of Shine charity is that it is a nationwide organisation, so it seems huge! However, this can be a challenge when trying to organise people to meet up. So, I’ve come up with a crafty plan...

The confidential Shine database shows me what areas everyone in This is Me lives in, and I can see that for most in our club, there are members near you even if you didn’t know it! I would love to invite you to come out with me, at a coffee shop near you, and meet up with some This is Me folk.

Make new friendsI have already started on this project and met lots of interesting young people who, in turn, have made new friends in their local area and beyond. It’s a great opportunity to meet up, have a laugh, and find outwhat is going on for you and

your age group. It is also a great time to make new plans with new friends. And, by the way, you don’t have to like or drink coffee to join in!

Contact me on T: 01733 421367 or E: [email protected] if you are interested in getting together. It would be great to see you..

Chelsea by the sea

Tom and Imogen enjoy coffee time

As well as Irish dancing, I also enjoy doing art, and play badminton after school sometimes. I hope that you will have enjoyed reading this and hopefully you will have learned a bit about me.

During my time dancing, so far, I have won 18

medals and I have danced at three shows in our town hall.

Sometimes I find it hard to get up onto my toes because it gets sore, I think this affects how well I do at competitions too.

We have a total of £50 worth of high street vouchers to be won in our This is Me summer competition!

Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Awareness day 2014 is coming up in October. Around this time, we set aside a whole week to Wear Yellow and Shine so that people can get to know about Shine charity and fundraise for us, by wearing and making lots of yellow things!

This competition is to get us in the mood and warmed up, ready for an AMAZING week of fundraising. With your help we can smash last year’s amazing total of £20,000 (see the Wear Yellow and Shine Facebook page for lots of photos of last year’s event, and Together magazine, Issue 13, page 17 for more details).

Tempting prizes…We have a first prize of £30 and two runner-up prizes of £10 for the person who can look the most yellow – that could include wearing yellow

clothes, yellow shoes, yellow socks, yellow hair (a wig?!), yellow accessories, yellow fingernails, eating a yellow cake, sitting in a yellow chair, or on a yellow cushion, or standing by some yellow curtains? Use your imagination to see if you can be the most yellow-est!

To enter, email a photo of ‘yellow’ you (and your friends) to us at E: [email protected]. We will choose who we think stands out the most as yellow, with two runner’s up, and let you know who the winners are by the beginning of September.

Closing date for the competition is Friday 15th August. Don’t forget to include your full name, age, and contact telephone number in your email. GOOD LUCK!

What’s Hot and What’s NotFashion with Tegan Welch

Hi, I’m Tegan and am 12 years old. I love fashion, and I hope you do too! I’m here to tell you what’s hot and what’s not! So, let’s get down to business.

Me and my friends love dungarees. The dungaree look is very stylish and you can wear them with leggings and a top, or just a top underneath – this depends on the season. If dungarees aren’t your thing, shorts may be the right look for you!

Shorts come in different lengths and it doesn’t matter what length

Tegan rocks fashion!

you have, they will still look cool! If shorts still aren’t your style, don’t worry about it because

jeans are also in fashion too! You can buy some really original styled jeans which may also be of interest to you! If you’re a bit of a ‘girly’ girl and none of this appeals to you, then chill out – skirts are totally in this summer!

Now, on to foot wear – flip flops and sandals are great for the beach! But one thing I must tell you is that socks and sandals is a big no-no! Hopefully, this summer will be a hot one so we can all get some tan! Summer is a great time to show people your fashion sense!

Competition TimeWarming up for Wear Yellow and Shine Week in October

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worth of high street vouchers to be won!

broken my foot on two separate occasions as well as breaking my wrist! My clumsiness has turned my mum prematurely grey!

When I am in large crowds, I am socially anxious and feel uncomfortable. However, I would like to meet people of a similar age with hydrocephalus as it’s good to socialise more

Meet Liam from LincolnshireHello, my name is Liam and I have the condition Hydrocephalus. I like to socialise with my friends and sometimes we play pool (not so good at that!), and possibly have a meal together. In my spare time, I like doing logic puzzles to keep my brain engaged and working.

Currently, I am looking for job vacancies but to date have been unsuccessful. Sometimes, I am accident prone and in the last few years, I have

I would like to meet people of a similar age

with hydrocephalus

Contact Nic on M: 07456 669205 or E: [email protected] for more details.

Nic and Liam take a selfie!

regularly. Perhaps we can get in contact through Facebook or through one of Nic’s coffee meet-ups or Shine’s support groups, which are great places to meet.

Events, Events, Events!The Coffee Project: There are ongoing events up and down the country with Nic Shaw on the following dates for the Coffee Project (see page 2 for more details):

Saturday 14th June 2.00pm:Costa Coffee, Bromsgrove, B61 8EX

Saturday 21st June, 2.00pm: Costa Coffee, Wigan, WN1 1BH

Fri-Sun 11th-13th July: ‘Aspire – Aiming High’, a residential weekend for 16-25s at the Zinc Arts Centre, Chipping Ongar, Essex CM5 0AD. For more details, contact: Joan Pheasant or Denise Richardson on T: 0113 255 6767 or E: [email protected]

of June’s Together

magazine, Issue 13 for more

This is Me news.

I’m also looking for young people aged around 11-18 to form a ‘Movers and Shakers’ group (like a Shine Youth Council) to work with me and other Shine staff to identify what is really important for younger members. It will be a chance to have a collective voice and empower our youth. ‘Movers and Shakers’ can report on what’s going on in their local areas to keep Shine informed, and having a role on the group will help members to develop new skills. Please contact me asap if you are interested.

Move-it and Shake-it!

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