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The Beta Generation by vInspired: Making Yourself Happy

By Sabrina on January 31, 2013 in Social Responsibility, Things to Do

2013 was meant to be the year I blog more regularly eh…? Some things never change. Anyway, happy new year. I still think it’s 2012, considering I keep forgetting to write 2013 on everything.

Charity and volunteering have always been a big part of my life. My mother ran a local charity for most of my life so I and my sisters would usually be involved in some capacity, usually involuntarily. When you’re a kid, you don’t think that taking time out to help and do sometimes monotonous jobs, is particularly fun. But as I’ve matured, I’ve definitely grown to appreciate the time my mother made us put into helping.

Currently I live in New York, and I helped volunteer for City Harvest (a local food bank) during post-Sandy efforts. Having lived my entire life in the rather safe and not climate diverse London, experiencing a hurricane was something entirely new and unsettling. A friend suggested we go help pack food packages, and we did. Not only did I build some slight upper body strength by slinging cans around (not really) and have my first experience with Viennese sausage (not an euphemism) but I got to meet very interesting and different people. And not forgetting the biggest volunteer opportunity I ever did (and most time consuming) was the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.

HELLO!

A lot of people do ask, why do I volunteer? Is it to show off? To make myself look better. I can honestly say it isn’t. Sounds selfish but it was first to make myself feel better. And also to branch out, and to get out of my comfort zone. The experiences and people you meet during volunteering is invaluable, and pretty fun too. Not to mention that it’s great for networking, and opportunities for another selfish reason. But mostly, it’s helped my self-confidence to no end. People who know me laugh about that because to them I have confidence falling out my butt. Not true.

Being a young person is hard. Of course, all the adults in your life tell you that “You’re young, what do you have to worry about? Enjoy life while you can.” Maybe the things you feel now won’t be important in the future, maybe they will be. But the most important thing is that they’re important right now. Feeling lost and out of place is something we all know what feels like. I definitely know what that feels like. One of the biggest issues is uncertainty.

I always think back and sometimes wish I was more confident in myself and abilities, but live and let learn. The frustration that comes along with it can be lonely. And the scaremongering that comes along in the media isn’t a help. Don’t get me wrong, yes, it’s a tough economy. I worried for ages about finding a job, paying off my student loans.

I’m a firm believer in going out there to find your own opportunities and make your own way in the world. When I couldn’t find a job after I graduated (which for me, seems to be always) I won’t lie, I was pretty despondent. So I kept interning. And interning. And interning. But I also started a blog based on my experience with writing on another blog which I loved. And the rest they say – is history.

I have worked with vInspired before I even forayed into the world of fashion. I can truly say hand on my heart, that they are a fantastic charity. Whether it’s an one off thing, or a continuous ongoing project, give it a go. Check it out. I can truly say that it’s not something you will regret. To get involved with the Beta Generation or just to find out more information check out vinspired.org

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If I buy a t-shirt from Valley Clothing, can I get the sexy tattooed Johnny Depp doppelganger too?

By Sabrina on October 20, 2011 in Fashion, Man Candy, Social Responsibility

I did a shoot yesterday with a make-up artist who I’ve never worked with before. She was top notch, and we had a lot in common, and we spent ages talking. She remarked that I seem to know a lot of stuff. I do know a lot of stuff.

One of my old housemates (who I hate, because she’s a dumb bitch who owes me money) was an idiot vegetarian. I say idiot vegetarian not because I think vegetarianism is idiotic, but she would bang on about animal welfare, and how disgusting we all were, and how Eva Longoria wore a fur coat and she hates her now, and I’d ask her about animal by-products, such as the leather boots she owned. She said that’s ok, because other people eat beef. Yeah, I replied, but you don’t. You may not advocate meat eating but benefiting from their hides when other people are eating meat makes no sense at all. Also she’d bang on about lots of other shit which I never listened to her about, but also she’d make some comments about cotton and why couldn’t everyone just wear it and it didn’t hurt anyone. That’s even more bullshit.

I also wonder about brands who hand out cotton tote bags willy nilly. Plastic isn’t great for the environment, but nor are these bags. There is no accountability to how they are made. No-one seems to know how bad the cotton industry actually is for our environment. I’m the worse person to try sell stuff too, because I question everything. And when I question things, people, especially brands don’t seem to have answers.

The humble cotton t-shirt is cheap and plentiful. You can pick them up for very cheap, or for a hefty price (because it says Supreme on it). But these big brands – do they know/or care where their raw material is coming from and the conditions caused by manufacture or production

I’ve met quite a few two people t-shirt outfits before usually two guy friends with one really handsome one and the best friend who is usually my cup of tea (I like ‘em insecure). Valley Clothing is the first t-shirt brand I’ve seen who uses water based inks for screenprints, which I was quite interested in. Somerset based duo Elliot and Dryden produce a limited edition run of 30 t-shirts of each of their designs, which are certified by The Carbon Trust and audited by Fair Wear Foundation – it has been tested for harmful substances and has been awarded the Confidence in Textiles seal, and they design all their artwork themselves. Pretty impressive for a pair of 20 year olds.

I also really like their model. He has a tattoo of my band name also.

And being an ex psychology student/lazy stylist – this Rorschach t-shirt ticks all my boxes. My daily uniform doesn’t fall far from the t-shirt and jeans tree. I’ve stopped buying into cheap, disposable fashion, preferring independent designers and vintage. Science of Style indeed.

You can read more about Valley Clothing in their interview with The Creative Book .

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Brum ‘N’ Bass & Swiss Jerks – Being Urban Doesn’t Mean Being a Thug: #MTVPlayground Scene@

By Sabrina on August 12, 2011 in Inspirations, Music, Social Responsibility, Sponsored

I’ve been a bit late to post up this content because of the pretty frightening goings on over this past week. I’ve seen local neighbourhoods and my community bearing the brunt of an angry bunch of looters with no sense of consequence or morality. London is my home, and will always be my home, wherever I live. Suffice to say, I’ve been a bit unsettled.

One of the arguments that have been thrown around is the usual adagio that “hip hop” is to blame. Paul Routledge wrote a column in the Mirror about rap music and hip hop being to blame for the riots – blaming the “trashy materialism” exhibited. While I agree on the point that the majority of hip hop these days is utter crap, the best argument against this nonensical article is that a glorified street culture is a result of how the youths have been treated. Professor Green by all rights, got a bit mardy and blasted Routledge. Plan B wrote an editorial in The Sun calling for more education before Britain is destroyed. Both guys from shit neighbourhoods (Hackney, Forest Gate). And both of them have some pretty angry music (Plan B’s first album is mint) but music was and is their way to express themselves and get out of the ghetto. Why is that a bad thing? I’d also like to add that Plan B and I went to the same school and I listen to a lot of hip-hop, grime and dub yet I have never felt the need to rob a jewellery store to tell them to make me a grill.

I am also not a sucka for corn rows and manicured toes.

I had a nice (albeit brief) chinwag on Twitter the other day with Damien from B-Better – a hip-hop education company, where he posed the question:

B-Better’s slogan is that hip hop is for everyone – and their motivation is self-expression.

Our aim is to further unify the elements of hip-hop through events and education. As mentioned before, through actively reaching communities, individuals and institutions alike, the understanding of hip-hop will grow.

Not only do they do some incredible work in the local community, they’re running a nationwide project called Everyday People , an internet TV series on 12 people learning to bust some (hip hop) moves. Definitely worth checking out their site for all that they do – and how you can get involved too.

Back to the main aim of this post. Scene@, part of the Swatch MTV Playground is an exploration of international style and sounds. The Scence@ platform is to show all the interesting, and different pockets of style and sounds world wide.

“Brum ‘N’ Bass” checks out the underground music scene in Birmingham, the UK’s second city. DJs, ravers and people involved in the scenes shared their stories about the evolution of the local scene and how
hybrids of dubstep, grime, techno and house are coming together in a new wave of bass heavy music.

You associate Switzerland with banks, mountains and chocolate but Jerkin’ originated in Los Angeles in the late noughties and now has one of the biggest outposts in Switzerland. And boy, can they move over in Le Suisse.

Both these Scene@’s show that, through hip hop, dance, the diversity of youth culture and community what can be achieved. It’s not the be it and end all solution. But it’s a start.

You can also follow B-Better on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook

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World Vision Microloans

By Sabrina on July 2, 2011 in Social Responsibility

Apparently some people read my blog, and that means highlighting issues that are important to me and need some exposure.

Microloans are small loan amounts that are extended to those living in a state of poverty which is designed to kickstart businesses and entrepreneurship, and allow the borrowers to get themselves out of poverty. It’s not all about giving a man a net so he can fish for a lifetime.
Microloans originated from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus and are traditionally loaned to women. I’m pretty familiar with this story, having wrote a piece on Grameen Danone and used it for internship applications. Also he was the first Bangladeshi to win a Nobel Peace Prize, which is a great source of pride too, for Bangladesh and myself (being a Bangladeshi). For more information about him, I suggest watchingThe Social Business Model and checking out his book ‘Creating a World without Poverty.’ Also see a great piece from the Guardian.

The concept and model of microloans and credit has now been adopted by the banking industry, and it is being implemented by many charitable organisations also. World Vision is one of these charities.

The World Vision team spends time to get to know the local communities, the people that need support and the individuals that have small business ideas to help them work towards a better life.

How World Vision do it is by getting you to find an individual, read their story, see their idea and see if you’d love to be part of it. Then you simply give to help fund the loan. To make the loan more affordable, it can be paid in 12 easy monthly installments.

After a year, World Vision will find another recipient based on your monthly rate. Or, if you like, you can choose any other person you would like to support. Once you’ve chosen the person that you’d like to support, keep up to date and share in the joy of their achievements and start to see their livelihood flourish with the knowledge that you have contributed to their success

Project ADP Namotivas – Yilcry and the rest of the group who are working on the Handcraft that will be send to Germany.

World Vision will send you regular updates so that you can see the difference that your donation has made, how the business is prospering, the changes it is bringing in their life, the life of their family and the communities in which they live.

For example, a single mother of two in Mexico can purchase all of her supplies to bake bread to sell. Not only does she earn enough money to support her family, she is also able to employ people from the local community to help her sell the bread. Very quickly she’ll be able to repay the loan which can then be used to help someone else work their way out of poverty.

World Vision offer microloans mainly in Mexico, Philippines, Armenia, Cambodia, Rwanda and Kenya.

For more information see World Vision Microloans.

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I was foolish enough to do this in blistering 40C heat…

By Sabrina on May 24, 2011 in Events, Inspirations, Music, Social Responsibility

At Coachella, myself and my friend Sylvie, thought WHAT THE HEY, LET’S PLAY. I’m not gonna lie, I enjoyed the heat, until I had to move. Or do anything. The great thing about Coachella was all the initiatives they had in place to reduce the impact of the environment. I must have put it to the back of my mind, but an email from Global Inheritance reminded me of all the neat stuff that was going on. (That’s right, I wrote NEAT. NEAT. NEATO!). It was hugely inspiring, and hopefully gave us festival goers food for thought.

The Energy FACTory highlights renewable energy sources while educating people on ways to curb their appetite for fossil fuels. Through installations, workshops and/or demonstrations, the Energy FACTory provides a unquie platform to educate people on wind, solar, kinetic, fossil fuels, biodiesel, Ethanol thermal and other types of energy. 24 DJs had the opportunity to spin Coachella with one catch, they had to recruit festival goers to generate energy to power their set. Last year we broke ground with this new program. Our goal in 2011 was to raise the bar a few notches and see if we could actually make the jump. Thanks all to everyone involved behind the scenes, we crossed the bar with no problems. The crown jewel of the Energy Playground was the Energy Swing supported by the second generation Energy Well, Hamster Wheels, Hand Cranks, See Saws and twice the number of Energy Bikes. The lines weren’t too long to use any of the re-engineered playground equipment so everyone had the opportunity to support the DJ sets.

Thankfully, I’m not in any of these pictures.

Human hamster wheels, the Tour de Energy bikes… we shied away from them. I care, but I don’t think me collapsing from heatstroke helps. So we played on the seesaw and the sexy swing. The sexy swing is best explained here.

But really, it’s a great cause. And it wasn’t as bad as the mental clown swings. At least there was a purpose to the madness.

I really wish my fingers could have been guns then…