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Friday Jul 03, 2009

Filming in A&E

Back in January we launched a new part of TheSite.org, a dedicated section on self-harm. It was the culmination of a long partnership we have built with two other charities, 42^nd Street and DePaul UK. And although there was a significant amount of content on the site when we went live, we didn't want to stop there.

Working with an advisory group of young people, as well taking feedback from other young people and professionals, we looked at what else needed to be added to the section. One request that we got from several people was a video to explain what happens when you go into A&E as a result of self-harm.

There is lots of animosity from those who self-harm about the treatment that they receive in A&E; and it's something that many in the health service acknowledge. Complaints include being badly treated, being criticised for "wasting our time", not being given access to appropriate support and psychiatric services where desired, and in the case of repeat visitors to A&E no way of storing preferred treatment methods.

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guidelines on treatment of self-harm goes a long way to try and change that; but changing procedures is only half the battle, and there is still a lot of work to change attitudes of individual clinical staff. That every clinician I spoke to was forthcoming with admitting this problem is both an indication of how widespread the issue is but also a demonstration that many people want it to be different.

We already had an article on what happens in A&E (co-written by an A&E doctor who I knew from student radio days), but it's difficult to explain procedures and what the experience through words alone. A video was the obvious solution.

Filming in A&E is no mean feat. Yes, there are the fly-on-the-wall documentaries that usually following ambulance and air-ambulance teams and include an element of A&E in them; but they've gone through months of preparation and agreements at the highest level. And often the hospital will be financially rewarded for allowing cameras in. We didn't have the time, resource or financial clout of the broadcasters, and given the sensitivities about attitudes towards self-harm it was particularly tricky, but our proposition was that we wanted to provide information for people who needed it.

I started by trying the usual suspects; the big teaching hospitals that had well-versed media departments. I also tried hospitals that, via the internet, I'd discovered had allowed cameras into their wards before. I got several initial warm responses, but after press officers discussed it with clinicians the answer was always "no, sorry".  Admittedly, I had put the calls in over February and March when A&E departments are at their busiest; but for the right department we were prepared to wait. In my desperation I even tried the set of Casualty, but apparently it's used all year round so they don't allow any other filming to take place.

Starting to feel like we were getting nowhere, we got a tip-off from a senior manager at NHS Direct, who we'd been chatting to about our self-harm work. She had been to a conference where there had been a presentation on Bradford Primary Care Trust's work with young people who self-harm, and particularly around the regular sessions that they held with the local A&E.

A few emails and calls later, and we'd got a very promising opportunity. I went up to Bradford for a meeting with the matron and consultant of the department and was expecting to have to go through some quite detailed negotiation. Instead their opening question was pretty much "OK, so what do we need to do to make it happen?"

Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) has a particular place in my heart, literally. As a student of the university in the city, the BRI is the only A&E department I've ever been in as a patient (a result of my heart going the wrong side of 200 bpm). So it was a bit strange returning to see the place for the first time not from a trolley-eye view.

Last week my colleague Chris and I were back in the city to do the actual filming. We agreed to film over two mornings – partly because the morning is generally quieter and partly so that if we couldn't do something on the first day we had a second opportunity.

As it was, the two days worked out perfectly. Spending any amount of time in an A&E department you realise it's not the manic heart-stopping drama of TV programmes like Casualty and ER. BRI is one of the busiest A&E departments in the country, yet there is an air of calm about the place (admittedly, I'm not quite sure it's the same on a Saturday night). It was also fascinating to see tours of school children brought in to the department to get an understanding of the place – I never got an opportunity like that as a child and the first time I ever went to A&E was in the back of an ambulance.

We filmed interviews with key staff and sequences using young actors from a local drama group and from our partners 42^nd Street. They, in particular, were really impressed with the attitude and work being done by the A&E staff to support people who self-harm when they come into the department. As a result of regular meetings between the staff and a local self-harm project, they had agreed to rebuild the triage area to make it less open and have space where initial assessments could be undertaken in private. They had management plans in place so that people who regularly presented in A&E as a result of self-harm had agreed ways of being treated. And there was a lot of training around changing attitudes and understanding that self-harm is a coping strategy, not a cry for help. And that people who self-harm have just as much right to treatment as anyone else.

The video now needs to be edited together (in fact, it'll probably end up being two videos). My colleague Chris has this task, and hopefully it'll be live in the next few weeks.  This part of the self-harm project has come to a close and whilst we'll continue to maintain and add case studies to the section, it feels like a big chapter has been finished. We're really proud of what we've achieved.

It's a nice time to end my role as editorial manager; it was only covering maternity leave and I'm glad to report that Hannah is now back in charge. But I'll be sticking around at YouthNet, working on developing do-it.org.uk, which should be full of some exciting new challenges.

Olly

Posted by Olly ( 10:47 AM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Tuesday Jun 09, 2009

Move over Jamie Oliver...

Did anyone else catch the first episode of I'm Running Sainsbury's on Channel 4? The four-part series focuses on shop floor workers who come up with ideas to help improve the store's performance and in the first episode (that I only got round to watching last night) it was the turn of 21-year-old Becky Craze from Watford.

Becky's idea was incredibly simple, the Feed a Family for a Fiver promotion that Sainsbury's has been running was missing a crucial trick. Rather than expect families to take the reciepe cards and find the food around the store, why not simply bag up the ingredients and sell them together? It's a no-brainer, right?

Well, Becky had to jump through various levels of corporate hoops before her idea was trialled in her own store. Bizarrely, and it wasn't really explained in the programme, she had to create a new reciepe for the product (err, isn't that why Jamie Oliver exists?) and the final product was thrown together when they discovered a supplier couldn't meet the quantity required for the correct meat to be included in the promotion.

Despite the various setbacks, and the eventual outcome (spoiler alert, but let's just say Becky is still working in Watford), Becky did an amazing job for a 21-year-old thrown into dealing with a large corporate machine.

If you want to see the programme, it's on the 4OD catch-up serivce, and there is also a great follow-up interview with Becky.

Posted by Olly ( 10:30 AM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Friday Apr 17, 2009

Work experience at TheSite towers

Just a quick hello from me and now I'm passing you over to Rachael who has been doing work experience at TheSite.org towers and has managed to fit in loads of stuff in over a relatively short amount of time...

This is my last day of work experience at TheSite.org and what better time to divulge some inside information than now!  Firstly the office is massive, if you are lazy like me than getting to the printer is really good exercise.  When I first arrived I realised what a hive of buzzing activity it is.  People are always exchanging ideas and inventing new ways to make the website better.  I think this is reflected throughout the website in the way that the content is always changing and the information available for young people is always expanding.

One of the features that I was able to be involved in during my time here is askTheSite.  People are able to send in their problems and receive a tailored response full of decent advice.  Before I even came here I realised what a valuable resource it would be but seeing the process firsthand it soon became clear just how much effort and time went into perfecting one of the helpful replies.  I attempted to respond to a problem myself but quickly realised that it was quite difficult to remove any wording that could influence or be detrimental to the person with the problem.  It sounds picky but it’s really important to take care when responding to a problem from someone who is obviously feeling very vulnerable, incase you worsen the situation. 

A definite perk for me being here was that I was able to literally change how TheSite.org looked on a daily basis.  Call me sad but it was a proud moment to upload a new poll complete with an image.  Makes you feel like God.  Or maybe not.  Something I didn’t realise is how much the discussion boards influence the content.  I took part in ‘board watch’ which is browsing through the boards to see if a topic could inspire any new content such as a fact sheet.  It was very difficult to find a topic that TheSite.org hasn’t covered as it’s pretty comprehensive.  I even took the plunge and managed to create a Rant for you to read. Nudge nudge.  Why don't you have a go at submitting a rant yourself and get things off your chest.  It can be very therapeutic! 

I was also invited to take part in a new website called Lifetracks; it provides online consultation with young people concentrating on the topic of work and careers.  I really, really recommend that you join.  The questions asked are perfect for when you are stuck for something to do and it just makes you think.  Blatant plug but you can apply through TheSite.org's sister website do-it.org.uk. It would be great if new people joined and I promise once you get into it that it gets addictive.

Posted by Helen ( 3:39 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Friday Mar 20, 2009

Body gossip

Until this week, I've been reading and listening to TheSite.org's Body Gossip article and podcast with a fair amount of distance. I've been assuming that this content relates to other young women and not me.

I'm a size 10, average height (although I have a lot of short friends who think I'm tall which is a bonus) and the only time I've ever really worried about the appearance of my body (other than primary school taunts for being lanky) has been when I've lost a shed load of weight during particularly stressful periods of my life. But, in hindsight, I've probably secretly enjoyed the comments I've had during those super skinny times. This in itself is disturbing. 

Aside from this, my reassessment of my place in the body gossip debate is because I've been invited to model for an Alternative Fashion Week shoot. This has really shattered my illusion that I have no qualms with my appearance.

Firstly, the designer (who I've yet to meet - I was recommended by a friend) sent me an image of his T-shirt's that featured illustrations of really tiny waisted models. I immediately freaked and messaged him saying I didn't think my figure was what he was looking for. He's told me not to worry saying the images were massively exaggerated. Phew!

Secondly, every time I eat any kind of junk food - you know a bowl of chips in the pub or a cheeky mars bar, I keep seeing flashbacks to some of the awful people on American's Next Top Model telling girls to shape up or ship out. For  the first time in my life, I've seriously considered eating carrot sticks for lunch a la Liz Hurley in the run up to the shoot. As if I'm not aware that crash dieting is ridiculous. But more to the point, why would I need to? Admittedly this has also made me think about my overall fitness, which can't be a bad thing, but such vanity is quite cringe worthy.

Thirdly, I've turned into that girl who does my head in asking all my friends: "Do you think I've put on weight recently, what if the photographer laughs me out of town?" As my housemate pointed out, if he does have an issue when he meets me, then that's certainly his problem not mine. You may be thinking: "Why put yourself through it?" I've asked myself that question, but I guess curiosity will always get the better of me.

So, although none of my concerns are really serious when considering some of the eating disorders and body worries that other people experience, it has really hit home this week that anyone is susceptible to irrational body worries. Bearing this in mind, I think it's really important that we continue to talk about body gossip topics and question attitudes in the media, among our friends and perhaps most importantly, the conversations we have with ourselves.

Posted by Helen ( 11:56 AM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[2]

Wednesday Feb 25, 2009

The Jade Goody effect

There can be few postivies to come out of the recent sad news about Jade Goody, who now has weeks to live following a battle with cancer.

On Sunday 15 February, the News of the World ran an exclusive interview with her, revealling that her cancer was terminal.

The day before, albeit Valentine's Day, 18 people searched for 'cervical cancer' and found our page on smear tests. That was pretty average over the last month.  The day the story broke, 63 people did the same search. On the Monday, that number was up to 294, and although that was the highest figure, it has stayed far higher than before the Jade Goody story broke.

The figure has been echoed across other media, and other organisations involved in cancer screening have seen an increase in public enquiries. If Jade Goody has increased the awareness of cervical cancer, that must be a good thing. Sadly it has taken her life in doing so.

Posted by Olly ( 10:14 AM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Thursday Feb 05, 2009

Five years of facebook

You're probably aware that Facebook has celebrated its fifth birthday this week. I joined the popular social network  two years ago when I wrote this blog entry about online identity. I'd say everything I wrote there is still relevant to this day, and reading comments about why people never joined facebook on the BBC http://bit.ly/zLLM (some very funny) - I'd say lots of the reasons could easily be overcome by my tips!

I'm well aware there are lots of dodgy things about social networking, but there are some awesome things too. So to celebrate those, here's a list of my top five favourite facebook moments...

1. Getting in touch with two of the most wonderful housemates I could ever wish for.
2. My dad finding cousins we haven't had contact with for 15 years.
3. My sister meeting her future husband.
4. Getting invited to some amazing gigs I wouldn't otherwise have known about.
5. Reading some excellent articles written by friends of mine that they've posted on facebook.

Oh, and while we're on the topic, why not become a fan of TheSite.org through facebook, it's a great way to stay up to date with this blog and other activity. And if you're not in the mood for celebrating this love to hate phenomenon, then you can indulge in some ranting along with Sara - http://bit.ly/4bzu7z

Finally if you're worried about getting addicted, then check out this great video.

Posted by Helen ( 4:12 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[1]

Tuesday Jan 20, 2009

Be part of the future

Hi everyone,

As a result of funding from Vodafone and V, YouthNet is building a comprehensive new website to help young people make decisions about their work, training and study options.

As regular users of the boards will know we always try to involve our users as much as possible in new developments. However this time we're planning something much, much more ambitious. If you're under 26 we'd be really excited to get you involved in creating and shaping exactly what this new site will be.

I've always felt that the more users can be involved in new developments, the better a website can be, however, previous development has been constrained at times - limited by the time we've had available and the requirements of having to update an existing service rather than starting from scratch.

But there's no similar problem here. By starting with an entirely new website we can really get everyone interested involved in the real nitty-gritty of building a website. For us it means an opportunity to check our thinking with yours and share all the excitement a huge new project can bring. For you it's a chance to get involved with something that will be an important and exciting part of young people's lives. It's also an opportunity to see how things are born on the web, from a very YouthNet perspective.

So if you think you have an idea of what would improve your time at school or work; if you want to get into web development; if you think your opinion is something we should hear; if you want to write, draw, film or record the experiences of others - or are just a little bit curious - then this is a great chance for you. It's also a great chance for us to shape how we'll be doing all future consultation, including work for the good ol' Site.

You'll be volunteering through YouthNet, with the support of the communities team, and let's make one thing clear from the start - you're opinions will have a real, lasting effect on the future of our work and a website you may be using in a few months.

If you're up for it then all you need to do is apply through the project group member opportunity over on our sister site, do-it.org.uk and bear in mind the opportunity is based online and is available to everyone across the UK.

I'll look forward to working with you

Posted by Jim ( 4:37 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[1]

Monday Jan 19, 2009

'Monging out' - a response

On Thursday I posted a blog post asking about using the term monging out.  I posted it because it'd been pointed out that the word originated from a reference to people with Down's Syndrome; something I was unaware of and so were the people I asked.

This was not trying to be offensive or controversial, I certainly have no desire to upset or discriminate against people with Down's Syndrome or other illnesses. I'm not prepared to use personal experience as a defensive, suffice to say I have a lot closer connection with Down's Syndrome than many other illnesses.

But I'm also not going to go down the route of pandering to every Daily Mail reader who gets offended by the slightest thing we say on this website. If a word, that once had an association with Down's Syndrome, but is now in common use with no reference to that association, has offended one person... does that really mean we should drop everything to remove it?

So I did what I felt was best... crowd-source and ask our audience. And you have answered.  For that reason I have removed the word.

Olly

Posted by Olly ( 9:26 AM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[2]

Thursday Jan 15, 2009

Are we right to use the term 'monging-out'?

If you use the phrases “lynch-pin” or “on the nail” you are using phrases that derive from slavery. You probably didn’t know that, and now that you do, would you stop using those phrases?

It’s an interesting question and one we’ve had to tackle this week. The phrase in question was “monging out”, and it’s appeared in an article on looking after yourself, that has been on the site since September 2006. We received a complaint about the use of the phrase because, as the correspondent points out, “it derives from a perjorative term for people who have Down’s Syndrome, and refers to a sad period of our social history when adults with a learning disability were abandoned in front of the TV, if they were lucky.”

Perhaps it’s my ignorance, but I didn’t know that, and hadn’t made the connection. A quick straw poll in the office suggests other people didn’t get the association with Down’s Syndrome, and took the phrase to mean being a coach potato. Nor do I believe that writer intended to make any connection with people who have Down’s Syndrome. And, having been on the website for two-and-a-half years, with just one complaint, it’s doesn’t appear that large parts of the general population are aware of its origins either.

The correspondent complains that use of the word “only perpetuates negative stereotypes”, and yet if few people actually understand the connection, what negative stereotype is it reinforcing?  Those of a certain age know why the word spastic is generally deemed offensive in the UK, yet acceptable in the US. I remember being hauled up by a teacher for using the word ‘wally’ to describe someone, and then being told that it was offensive because it referred to an individual called Wallace who had been misunderstood. There is no real evidence that this is true (most accounts seem to suggest that it comes from a 1974 music festival in Stonehenge), but Wally is offensive enough that the Where’s Wally books were renamed Where’s Waldo when they launched in the States.

We certainly don’t set out cause offence on TheSite.org, but we’re here to reflect the lives of young people aged 16-24, and that’s as much about the language as the attitude. We’d never use the kind of language Prince Harry used to describe a fellow solider, and equally most likely steer away from the term Chris Moyles used to describe a ringtone he didn’t like. But our language has moved on far less in the last fifty years than at any point in its history, and the notion that a word was once offensive means it shall forever more be so seems is, in my opinion, a backwards step. Stephen Fry has the most excellent argument about why fretting about ‘correct’ language is dangerous.

It’s for that reason we’ve left the term in. But we’re happy to debate it and I’d welcome you comments on whether you think that was right.

Posted by Olly ( 3:38 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[14]

Skint gourmet

If December was the month for over-indulgence, then after a very expensive end to 2008, January has certainly been the month for surviving on left-overs, scraping pennies from the money box to buy a packet of digestives (no really, I experienced that yesterday when I went to buy biccies for a meeting) and whinging about the fact the credit crunch doesn't seem to mean food is getting cheaper.

So, an email from the Motley Fool giving me a price comparison for the cheapest supermarkets to buy fruit and veg from has been most welcome. I've also enjoyed reading threads in our food forum about what food you can buy with your last tenner, and have gone back to basics with TheSite.org's articles on eating like a pauper and easy recipes which tend to be cost effective.

However, the thing to really get my attention is any tips related to eating my favourite food - curry. So, I'm loving this credit crunch curry video - and trust me chick peas are really yummy. Seriously.

 

Posted by Helen ( 2:25 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[1]

Monday Jan 12, 2009

Meet an Apprentice winner

I love The Apprentice: It’s about the only reality TV programme that I’ll make an appointment to view. The last series, whilst it has some classic moments (plus someone I used to work with), does feel a bit like it’s leaning less towards the serious job application process to a bit of comedy-entertainment with people you can laugh at.

The first series, when it was on BBC2, no-one understood the format and none of the contestants were using it as a quick way to become a quasi-celebrity, was won by Tim Campbell.  Tim did his time with Surallan, before deciding to set up a charity that promotes entrepreneurship among young people: the Bright Ideas Trust.

Tim is a really engaging person to spend some time with, so I caught up with him to get some ideas about how to get a job and become an entrepreneur. Watch the video.

Posted by Olly ( 2:37 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Monday Dec 22, 2008

A creative end to the year

is exactly what we've had in the communities team at TheSite.org. The deadline for the design a T-shirt competition has now been called. You can vote for one of the five finalists over on our discussion boards.  Thanks to everyone who entered, we really had our work cut out deciding which entries would make the final.

Also on the boards, we've launched a new forum called Creative. As Jim V says: "We've built this corner of the forum to allow people to express themselves. That could mean poetry, scribblings, whole novels, music, art, film - whatever you've created yourself."

I'm particularly enjoying the photography thread which has seen a splurge of activity since the new forum was launched. Below is one of the images which caught my eye.

Take a look at the whole thread for more interesting images.

Posted by Helen ( 5:10 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[1]

Thursday Dec 04, 2008

Secret santa

This week we've had the joy of picking out a name for Secret Santa ready for TheSite towers Christmas party. I've picked out a boy's name this year, who I've been assured is a sports fan and Arsenal supporter. This is pretty handy as I live near the Emirates Stadium so I'm bound to find some cheesy chrimbo merchandise nearby. I just hope I haven't been led up the garden path and find out he's actually true blue Chelsea or a horrible Hammers fan! :P

Work Christmas parties are a funny thing and it's interesting to hear your views on them on the boards - some people can't wait, while others are well and truly boycotting them.  If you're worried about yours then check out our article on work christmas parties for some survival tips.

I'm quite looking forward to ours, but one thing that does worry me a bit is our annual caption competition. Last year I managed to win a prize for my caption for one of the photos, but this year I'm just horrified to see my own face up for scrutiny. Anyway, I'm letting you have a peak...



What caption would you put on this?

Posted by Helen ( 4:00 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[2]

Friday Oct 24, 2008

Johnny come lately...

Last month we ran our saucy survey finding out about your sexual activity, or lack of.  As with a lot of our surveys, we have an incentive (or bribe) and this one was three free condoms for every survey participant.

What we weren't quite expecting was over 3,000 entries within three days of the survey going live. So much so that we had to close the survey early for fear of not being able to meet the demand.  That the nation's 16-24 year olds are that desperate to get their mits on a few free johnnies suggests either they are a bunch of randy fuckers (literally), or, as we'd like to hope, they take their sexual health very seriously.

Anyway, that still leaves 10,000 condoms that need to be packed and sent out, so yesterday, after work and with the promise of a free beer, 20 or so of the staff from YouthNet spent an hour and a half stuffing envelopes.

Start with some beer, food and condoms:

 

(that's me in the gray tshirt in the bottom right picture)

Your envelope was hand-packed by one of these lovely people:

JimV is busy at work:

Once the condoms are in the envelope, they need to go through the franking machine (bottom right picture).

The end result is it took us about 90 minutes to pack 3,000 envelopes.  Unfortunately there is only one franking machine, so that will take a bit longer - but hopefully your condoms should pop through your letter box in the next few days.

Have fun with them...

Olly

PS.  We'll put the survey results up soon, we promise.

Posted by Olly ( 8:50 AM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Monday Oct 20, 2008

Four months in the making...

At approx 4.47pm this afternoon something that I've been waiting for for months (for four months to be precise) happened.  We released the new look TheSite.org onto our live servers.

We'll tell you all the exciting stuff that made it happen, and thanks to your many suggestions from the messageboards, but we're now off to buy our fabulous techy team a pint or two, in recognition of them (and others) putting in more hours than legally they should making it happen.

But we're really excited by it, and we hope you are too...

Olly

Posted by Olly ( 4:20 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]