Sunday 11 April 2010

A year later...

I have found second year significantly easier than my first year as we were just building on theories, ideas and concepts that we had originally learnt. Also with the help of work experience it was easier to understand the theories as I had used them in practise when working in PR. I have successfully worked as a team in group work and have achieved some good results for presentations which is very positive.

This year we have been put into groups instead of choosing who we work with and this has been a great experience as not only have I had the opportunity to work with people that I wouldn’t normally, but have also had the chance to work as different parts of a team. Previously, I have often been team leader when we’ve chosen who we were with and I tend to organise what everyone’s doing. However, I worked with people I didn’t really know as well and there were other team leaders within the group. It was a good opportunity to see how other people lead a group and it was and it meant that when I am team leader again, I can use some of the techniques they displayed for myself. For example, in one group they divided the tasks and then went their separate ways, did their work and emailed it to the team leader who put it together. However, when I do group work we all tend to sit together while doing the work and help one another then put it all together with everyone there. However, this doesn’t always work as sometimes not everyone can attend the working session and so if we divided the work up then did it separately, we may be able to share the work load more fairly and then join together to complete the work.

This year I also went for a work placement at Ptarmigan Bell-Pottinger. This was a fantastic experience and even though we were unsuccessful, our group really enjoyed working on the brief that they gave us. What was really valuable was have been given a real brief and little advice on how to go about working on it, so we did everything ourselves and our ideas were very well received by Nathan Lane, who said they were very original. It was a great experience actually pitching to Ptarmigan as it was a taste of the many opportunities Ptarmigan offered the successful student team and the enthusiasm that our group showed was clear. We worked really well as a group and we supported one another well. While we were pitching we were able to bounce off one another’s ideas and pitched with confidence and ease. It was a great opportunity to put all the information that we learnt in Public Relations Planning and Management and Persuasive Communications into practise and we used the theories that had been given to shape our pitch. Although we were unsuccessful, we were not resentful as we knew that we had done our best and couldn’t have put more in and were just grateful for the fantastic experience that Bell Pottinger offered us.

My career goals have always been that I would like to work in the beauty sector of Public Relations as that is where my passion lies. To achieve this I am determined to get a year’s work placement in one of the big beauty companies. I had an interview at Elizabeth Arden although unfortunately this was not able to be followed through as with the financial situation as it is at the moment they had to make cuts in the budget. However, I will keep looking (and hopefully find!).

Overall, although this year has gone very quickly and the work loads have been a lot more than what we were used to in our first year as well as the pressure to find a placement, I feel this year has been a good year! Lets hope it stays that way!!

Saturday 27 March 2010

Using legal highs? Are you an oxymoron?!

Its the buzz on every one's lips at the moment. Legal highs. I find myself talking about this subject nearly everyday and it shocks me that something so irrelevant to my own life, has taken over. I know very little about drugs and moreover designer drugs and many think that I am ignorant, however, it has simply never been a scene that I have wished to act in.

Legal highs are derived from Ecstasy, by its content rather than its effects and are both dangerous and unpredictable. However, these drugs are very easy to get your hands on. I googled "legal highs" so as to learn more about legal drugs such as mephedrone and all the web pages that came up were selling such drugs not information. I then decided to investigate the prices of such drugs and I am not surprised that many have swapped their drinks for drugs - these are so cheap!

What I find most worrying about these designer drugs is that no one really knows the true effects. Obviously, the user finds the short term effects incredible, however, it is impossible to find out the long term effects of this drug. Personally, what I think the worst aspect of this new drug scene is the effect it has on your life as a whole. As many of the drugs are stimulants, it means that the individual can stay up all night . However, this leads to the need to sleep all day or perhaps to force yourself to stay awake and then use the drug again the next evening so as to keep them up for a second night running. This leads to a contineous circle.

Although as students we all have the odd day that we don't get out of bed until 3pm, the use of stimulants causes this reguarly, so university lectures are missed and the motivation and ability to work slowly disappears. Although the governement is currently looking at ways of making this drug illegal, there will always be a new designer drug to take its place.

Wednesday 3 March 2010

B-Eating Disorders

Many of us set New Year’s Resolutions to lose weight and many of us have given up by the 2nd of January when all the Christmas treats have to be finished off. However, there are many whose lives revolve around a constant diet, a continuous awareness of what they eat that their lives become consumed by food.

There are 1.6 million people in the United Kingdom diagnosed with an eating disorder, but there is thought to be many more experiencing difficulties that are yet to be diagnosed. BEAT represents the UK’s Eating Disorders Association and are celebrating 21 years of working with those affected by eating disorders. Beat’s vision is simple: Eating Disorders will be beaten.
An eating disorder is a serious mental illness that controls the whole of a person. Many just believe it is about appearance, when in fact there are many reasons for eating disorders to arise. Problems with food can be linked to many different feelings such as loneliness, anxiety and sadness but also when a person feels that they lack control over their lives. Food can often be used, sometimes without awareness as a way to solve painful issues or times of distress. However, there is rarely one single cause for eating disorders. Problems with relationships, bereavement, a certain event or lack of confidence are all situations where eating disorders may become a matter for concern and may not just be because a person feels that they are overweight.

People with eating disorders do not have a normal relationship with food. The two most serious eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa; however, binge eating and compulsive eating are also recognised as disorders.

Anorexia can be characterised by extreme low body weight and a distorted body image. Anorexics are so concerned with gaining weight that they strictly control what they eat and drink and may exercise excessively in order to burn the calories. Ultimately, the mental illness takes control and the chemicals in the brain can distort thinking patterns making it impossible to make rational decisions about food.

There are many effects that anorexia can have on your body such as dizziness, poor circulation, loss of menstrual cycle and discolouring of the skin. However, what can be more worrying to friends and family are the psychological and the behavioural side effects of anorexia such as denial, mood swings, lying and obsessive behaviour.

During an interview with a mother who has a daughter who suffered from anorexia nervosa since she was 10 years old and now aged 21 is still having issues with food. “We still do not know where her fear of eating arose from and we feel there must have been a trigger that set her off in primary school. At one point our beautiful daughter was down to five and a half stone which for her height of 5 foot 11 inches is staggeringly low. She has been in and out of hospital and even though I am not to blame, I cannot help but blame myself. It was the constant lies and deceits that hurt us the most because my daughter and I used to be very close. We love her very much and only want the best for her.”

Bulimia Nervosa is different as there is a mix of symptoms and not everyone displays the same ones and you do not need all the symptoms to be diagnosed with an eating disorder. Bulimics eat as they feel they have an emotional need that cannot be satisfied by food alone. Often sufferers binge on high calorie food or food in large quantities; however after eating there is a need to purge their food immediately by either using laxatives, vomiting or heavy exercise. Bulimia is harder for others to notice, and unlike anorexia, the weight loss is not as dramatic, although mentally it is just as tough.

Bulimia, has similar effects on the body as anorexia. In addition, the throat can become sore, teeth can decay and bad breath can occur due to excessive purging, the quality of the skin can become sallow and there is the possibility of hair loss. Bulimics may spend large amounts of money on food or food may be secretly hoarded. As with anorexia, sufferers will lie and try and cover up as much as possible as they are ashamed of their behaviour.

Eating disorders can occur at any age, although the people most likely to be affected tend to be young women, particularly between the ages of 15-25. This means that while you are at university you may have to see a friend suffer with an eating disorder. If you know anyone that shows the signs of an eating disorder you need to approach the subject with care, as sometimes people with eating disorders do not feel comfortable enough to speak to someone that close to them. When someone is suffering from an eating disorder, they find it hard to admit to themselves that they have a problem, and so admitting to someone else makes the situation real and so it is best to talk to them privately and mention that you have noticed their habits and let them know that if they want to talk that you will be there for them. Suggest other forms of contact for your friend if she feels uncomfortable talking to you face to face at first such as a letter or email and then encourage her to talk to you in person. Many people find it easier to express their feelings through writing and they are given the opportunity to write down everything that they want to say instead of forgetting or missing out information that can happen when talking face to face.

Remember, that seeing a friend go through such distress can be hard for you too, so do not feel that you have to keep everything to yourself. Talk to your parents or to a counselor who can suggest the best way to go about the situation. There will always be help for those with eating disorder and those who are affected by friends or family.

The BEAT eating disorders website can offer help (www.b-eat.co.uk) and there are also a number of help lines which help offer support. Whether it is you or a friend that suffers from an eating disorder, remember help is at hand and with BEAT’s help and continuous support, eating disorders can be beaten.

Wednesday 24 February 2010

Barnado - PR Guru?

Barnado - Saviour and PR guru
Earlier, while cooking and watching The One Show they discussed the charity “Barnados”. Barnados are a charity that helps look after troubled children who may have been raised in situations ranging from drug abuse to homelessness. They believe that every child has a right to be happy and healthy.Barnados was set up in 1867 by Thomas Barnado who moved to London in 1866. It shocked him to see young children homeless and begging on the streets and so he set up “The Ragged School” which looked after those children who were facing poverty and gave them a basic education.

One evening, a pupil at the school took Barnado to some of the poorest areas of London and showed him young boys and girls curled up in gutters or roof tops to try and stay safe and warm. Barnado then dedicated his life to helping destitute children and set up many homes for children to stay in. His motto was “No destitute child ever refused admission”.The Victorians of this time considered poverty as laziness and poor children were treated with disgust. Barnado however, needed support from the public to keep his houses running.

Barnado was a man ahead of his time. He introduced ideas for fundraising and what turned out to be great PR. Barnado used photography which was a speciality in Victorian times and took photos of every child that ended one of his homes in the state they were found in and then again several months later when they had recovered from their experiences of living on the streets. These photos were then made in post cards and sold to the public to help raise awareness of his cause and money. Captions such as “once a little vagrant now a handy workman” were seen on the postcards in an attempt to change people’s mind about poor children.

This was both successful and helped him raise enough money to open a girl’s house to help young girls living on the streets. It seems that Barnado was an early innovator in both child welfare and PR and his efforts still continue today 104 years after his death.