Jun/100
Volunteer’s Week
Since leaving 6th form and throughout my degree so far I've volunteered for two organisations. The first of these is Active Training and Education (A.T.E) a not-for-profit educational trust that runs children's summer camps and school weeks in centres across the UK. Having trained as a summer camp monitor when I was still a 6th form student I soon learned that the A.T.E experience is unlike any other.. I've since spent weeks in countryside mansions and boarding schools hiding in the woods, crawling through underground tunnels and hunting mysterious characters who appear out of nowhere with news of villains that need to be captured. I've had more fun volunteering on these 'superweeks' than I can recall ever having when I was a child; there is nothing quite like watching an A.T.E first timer discover all the excitement of that A.T.E has to offer and taking them home to their parents at the end of the week brimming with stories to tell.
More recently, I've become involved with GirlGuiding UK and have trained as a unit leader, helping to run a Rainbows group (5-7 yrs). I've gained so much from the experience, meeting new people, developing my leadership skills and having the chance to get involved in a huge range of projects.
This week is Volunteer's Week in the UK so I felt compelled to share a little about my experience of being a volunteer. Volunteering is an experience I'd recommend to anyone - there are so many opportunities to volunteer regardless of how much or how little time you have to give.
May/100
Megson – The Longshot
Megson - The Longshot
Megson's The Longshot featured pretty highly on my list of 'most anticipated' albums of 2010 and it certainly doesn't disappoint!
The Longshot is Megson's fourth studio album and follows in the footsteps of the critically acclaimed 'Take Yourself A Wife' which saw the pair nominated as 'best duo' in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
The Longshot is an upbeat affair with Stu Hanna's guitar coming to the fore and Debbie's vocals providing the perfect accompaniment. Megson have stayed true to their roots with tracks on the album depicting tales of the working class and the decline of the factory industries. However the two have broken new ground with self-penned tracks The Longshot and The Cabman which bring these themes to a contemporary setting.
It is rare that an album keeps you hooked from start to finish but every song on The Longshot stands out in its own right and reflects the excellent craftmanship of Stu and Debbie as artists leading the way in the contemporary folk genre.
This is one record which won't be leaving my side for some time!
You can find out more about Megson and The Longshot at www.megsonmusic.co.uk
May/102
Seth Lakeman @ Bath Komedia May 14th 2010
Seth Lakeman @ Bath Komedia 14th May 2010
Seth Lakeman was playing in at the Komedia in Bath on Friday evening and on Thursday after a day of mourning the fact that finals revision was taking over my life I made a somewhat spontaneous decision to buy a ticket and go. I later persuaded my friend & non-folk convert that she would really enjoy the gig even if the music wasn't what she normally listened to and that she should come along too.
The gig was good, the Komedia itself is a small venue with balcony seating and a downstairs bar and 'standing' area. This came as somewhat of a surprise to me having recently seen Seth perform to thousands at Shrewsbury Folk Festival and at the Bristol 02 - but I wasn't complaining!
This gig was one of a series of 'Get Intimate' gigs that offered unsigned acts the chance to perform as support artists. So we were treated to the likes of a few bands - but those that stood out were Heart Shaped Things and Karima Francis who had an incredible voice and seemed slightly overwhelmed by the support of the audience!
The Seth set was excellent and we were treated to a number of songs from the forthcoming album Hearts and Minds which is due for release at the end of June. Memorable tracks included Changes - which I remembered as being a stand out track from Shrewsbury, See Them Dance, The Watchman, Preacher's Ghost and Hearts and Minds. The Circle Grows was definitely one of my favourites from the evening & I'm looking forwards to seeing that on the album as well.
Sadly though there was no 'Working Man' - perhaps one of the songs that the audience were more familiar with due to its promotion for the album.
The gig ended with a 'hoe-down' encore to Blood upon Copper and Race to be King and definitely left the audience wanting more though we were swiftly ushered out of the building.
This probably wasn't the best that I've seen Seth of late - he didn't seem quite so smiley/enthusiastic until later in the set & sadly Benji Kirkpatrick had to be almost off stage because the venue was so small.
All in all though the small venue added to the character of the gig and was probably a rare chance to see the band up close before they head off on the festival circuit.
May/103
Why I will never buy a policy from DSGI again.
2 months ago my 3 year old Toshiba P100 laptop died - in the truest sense of the word. Every time I tried to use it I got a blue screen error and reboot. After multiple attempts at fixing it it was apparent that there was a problem with one/more components and that it needed to be sent off for repair.
Don't worry I told myself - that Whatever Happens Policy that you took out with DSGI three years ago means it will all be fixed and returned no questions asked. In theory.
I phoned the DSGI phone line in mid-March to arrange for the laptop to be collected - thinking this gives them a good '28 days' as stipulated in their policy to get it fixed and returned to me before I have to go back to uni and revise for my finals.
Needless to say 28 days came and went. I was phoning DSGI on a weekly basis to find out what was happening and all sounded promising until the 3rd week - we're waiting for a new battery and powerpack that was where the fault was.
Week 4 - Yes we're still waiting for the battery and powerpack but because of the volcanic ash its going to take another week
Week 5- There hasn't been a change in the status we're still waiting
Week 6 - No still waiting - but we'll get in touch with the repair centre and find out exactly whats happening and how long they are expecting it to take
End of week 6 - Just to let you know we still haven't heard from the repair centre but we'll phone you when we do
Waiting, Waiting
Middle of week 7 - Yes we're still waiting for a battery and power cable. What someone told you they'd find out from the repair centre? Oh I have no idea why they would say that its not our job to chase these things up. You just have to wait OR accept a new laptop (of equal or better specification* But not the same make).
I told them I would expect an product of equal specification to be one of the same make and that if that is not the case I would prefer to wait for my own product back fixed.
But I obviously want to know what on earth is going on that it takes 3 weeks to get the parts.
'No can do' was the reply from the customer services rep.
Right well give me the address for head office - this is the worst service I've ever had and you are still sitting on MY £1200 laptop and refusing to tell me what is happening to it or when it will be fixed.
'Oh we don't have an address but here's another phone number try them'.
So the current situation is - I'm down a £1200 laptop and 3 years of policy premiums at £10 a month.
DSGI refuse to tell me how long it will take to repair/ locate the parts for my laptop. But funnily enough strongly advise that I just accept a new 'replacement' product of their choosing.
Words cannot express how angry I am with this service.
Hi! I’m Jen, I’m 21 years old and study medicine in the UK. I'm currently studying for an intercalated degree in Pathology and Microbiology but excited about going back to clinical medicine next year!
