London Blog

Please enjoy the next instalment of our GX volunteer's blog for Street League. The first is from Pauline...

Hello again! It’s been a while since I wrote, having been kept busy at Street League and in the other aspects of Global Xchange.

A couple of weeks ago the team of 18 GX volunteers went up to Cambridge for a weekend break where, on the last day of our stay, a few of us managed to get away and we hired a punt to take out on the river. Being enthusiastic to try punting myself but not wearing the appropriate footwear (high heeled boots) to balance on a moving, slippery bit of wood I braved the cold, took off my boots, rolled up my jeans and after several false attempts in which I nearly sent the boat into the bank I started to get the hang of it. From thereon in it all went smoothly with only minor mishaps such as Nick (another volunteer) getting the punting pole stuck in the mud and leaving it upright poking out of the river surface, and the punt carrying on moving, much to the entertainment of a crowd on an overhead bridge.

After our break it was back to work, attending more sessions, carrying out progressions surveys and spending time in the office doing job searches.

However, last week Street League let us take time out from the office to take part in the Community Sports Leadership Award (CSLA), one of the Directions to Work courses (D2W) at Millwall FC. As well as taking part and getting the opportunity to gain an award it was a valuable opportunity to gain an insight into the progressions side of Street League. We both really enjoyed the week and learning how to run a fun and structured session for children (which included me embracing my inner-child to carry out “superman stretches” as part of the session). Both Ben and I passed the CSLA and after a long week expected to be straight back in the office on Monday. However, it was not to be, as I woke on Monday morning to be greeted by the most snow London has seen in 18 years and a text off Sophie saying the office was closed! Being unable to resist the lure of cold white powder I met up with friends and spent the day wondering in parks and having snowball fights with any random stranger who looked at though they would be willing to rise to the challenge. The unexpected snowfall caused London to slow down which meant that strangers had the time to pass a smile between themselves and share in the child-like excitement that snow often brings.

Now we are in the office again, knuckling down to work. We have to collate all the information we gathered from the progressions surveys and put together a report. We have just over a week left here and so will be putting all our effort into finishing it so that our time at Street League will have been profitable. I’ll be sad to leave Street League as it has been brilliant, with the right amount of work and fun. But I’m trying not to think of that right now, especially as there is still so much to do before the end!