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| Me as part of the panel I sat on in 2012 |
It is always a pleasure to go to BritMums Live each year. This is definitely my favourite blogging event of the year and one I have not missed for about the last four years. I've spoken before, I've been a butterfly (to welcome newbies) and I even moderated a room last year but my favourite thing is to just be there; meet friends, eat good food and soak in the atmosphere.
This year I am on a panel on the Saturday morning and I'm speaking alongside Hayley Goleniowska, Karen Cannard and Jean McLean. Our session is titled - “Digital Activism – Charities, campaigning and shaping the world we live in” and we will be discussing what it is like to campaign (both on and offline) for what we believe in.
Take a look at the bios of the women I'm proud to sit alongside -
Hayley Goleniowska - A former language teacher and voice-over artist, Hayley is now the mum of two gorgeous girls, the youngest of whom, Natty, has Down’s Syndrome. She blogs, speaks, provides training and writes articles on the subject for parents, teachers, medical staff and other organisations. Through her blog Downs Side Up, she aims to both offer support and encouragement to new families with a diagnosis and to gently change perceptions of Down’s Syndrome through her powerful words and beautiful photographs. Natty is also a clothing model and an amazing ambassador for children with disabilities everywhere, featuring in countless newspapers, magazines, journals, TV and radio programmes. You can find Hayley on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. @DownsSideUp
Karen Cannard is the co-founder of The Rubbish Diet Challenge, a feel-good slimming club for bins that motivates “dieters” into reducing waste beyond their expectations. Writing as “Almost Mrs Average”, The Rubbish Diet began in 2008 as blog about her council’s Zero Waste Week challenge, during which Karen unexpectedly reduced her family’s waste to just a plaster. She has since influenced thousands of people and has featured on Woman’s Hour, The One Show, C4 Dispatches and ITV’s Tonight documentary “Throwaway Britain”. She is a local columnist, BBC Radio Suffolk’s Bin Doctor and a Trustee of Reuseful UK. She has been highlighted for the second year running as one of the top 10 most influential people in the UK’s resource sector. As well as helping people feel great about making a difference at home, Karen is also passionate about waste reduction innovation that’s making an impact on the UK economy. Follow Karen at @therubbishdiet.
Jean McLean is Head of Mobilisation at Save the Children. Her role involves influencing and campaigning on high profile issues relating to child survival and protection. Her work has contributed to over half a million people engaging David Cameron to tackle hunger. This resulted in the pledging of £2.7bn for nutrition interventions to aid 1.7 million children. Prior to her role at Save the Children Jean worked for the National Union of Student as Head of Communications. During her time she mobilised 52,000 people to participate in the biggest student demonstration in 30 years. She also developed the campaign strategy to reverse a decision by HSBC bank to charge graduates interest on their ’interest free’ accounts, saving graduates over £20 million in the first year.
I've recently written a piece for the BritMums blog which explains why I think it is important that all of us with a wide readership ought to reach out and campaign but do come along to our session (planned for 9.35am Saturday morning) armed with all your questions and we will happily share our experience with you.
Here are a few links to previous posts on the same subject that you might enjoy -
Google hang-out with BritMums discussing what it is like to travel as a blogger with a Charity
My top tips for successful charity/ blogger relationships
Watch the Blogging for Good Panel I sat on at BritMums Live in 2013
Some days I wonder why I do it
Coverage of my trip to Ethiopia with ONE
Coverage of my Operations Christmas Child shoebox trip to Belarus
Coverage of my trip to Washington DC for the ONE #AYAsummit
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