* GLOBAL XCHANGE *

MONEY MAKES SOME NOISE

 12 November 2006 
 

Brayton Community Centre has a new music studio thanks to two Global Xchange volunteers, Desmond Nkosi and Richard Wren. The volunteers who’ve been working at the centre helped to write a proposal for a grant for equipment for a music club.  

The £5000 equipment was funded by ‘Money 4 U’, which supports projects for young people in the local area. It was set up by ‘Mr G’, head of music at Brayton College and tested by local band ‘Pirastro’. 

The portable recording studio was set up for the Brayton Drop In to create a band/music workshop club for children and young people, which is hoped to be up and running within the coming weeks. 

Richard said: “Music is a great way of bringing people together.  We hope that this club will allow young people to learn about creating, mixing and producing music collectively. This will help to keep the local young people occupied, and be beneficial to the area.” 

“We would like to thank Mr G, the band and our technical expert Mr Chris Miley for all their help and enthusiasm,” said Des. 

The setup marks the end of a busy month for all of the GX volunteers, having participated in the ‘Kick Racism Out Of Football’ tournament involving celebrity commentator Robbie Earle, students from Selby College and children from various local schools.  The team also recently helped redecorate the Women’s Institute building in South Milford. 

“The group is very ambitious,” said Mr G.  “Richard and Desmond have been planning a children’s Christmas concert using this equipment, and now it seems likely that this club will be one of many.” 

The Global Xchange team of 18 young volunteers will be in Selby for one more month before flying to South Africa for the second leg of their exchange. It’s the second time Global Xchange teams have lived in Selby, the previous exchange was with Pakistan. Global Xchange is run by VSO, the British Council and CSV. 

Kerry Tomlinson, manager at Brayton Community Centre: 01757 212 748 

Richard Wren, GX volunteer (mobile): 07776 25 29 27

To contact GX volunteer Desmond Nkosi, please also use the above number.

SOUTH AFRICAN and British volunteers will be painting the inside of the Women’s Institute Hall in South Milford next Saturday (the 21^st of October) from 10am – 5pm.

The W.I. co-opted committee member Laura Reilly is responsible for organising this initiative with the Global Xchange team currently in Selby. The materials have been generously donated by Selby’s CIP (Community Investment Partnership).

The Global Xchange team consists of eighteen service-minded 18-25-year-olds intent on becoming “global citizens”. They will be giving up their day off to the W.I., whose hall is in need of a coat of paint. They will also be doing some gardening work and general refurbishment.

The project is one of many Community Action Days that the team undertakes on a weekly basis. For example, you may have spotted a handful of out-of-towners helping the local cub scouts weed an allotment last Saturday. “CADs” to come will include events on World Aids Day and the International Day of Volunteering. So keep your eyes open for the enterprises of the Global Xchange volunteers around Selby until Christmas. 

To contact Laura Reilly about the volunteers’ work call: 01977681508 

To learn more about the Global Xchange programme by Voluntary Service Overseas visit www.globalxchange.org.uk

www.vso.org.uk/     Global Xchange is run by VSO, the British Council and CSV. 
 

The Global Xchange team is in Selby Town for three months, and will be in Queenstown, South Africa for another three months. Global Xchange is run by VSO, the British Council and CSV. 



" Global Xchange aims to support the development of active global citizens, committed to working for positive change within communities.

The Global Xchange programme is a six-month exchange programme which gives young people from different countries a unique opportunity to work together, to develop and share valuable skills and to make a practical contribution where it is needed in local communities. "
[ From the Global Xchange website http://www.vso.org.uk/globalxchange/ ]

Here is this exchange's "Cast List":

Selby-Queenstown Projet Supervisors LAURA SMITH from the UK and NTOMBI HASHE from SA.

Volunteers from South Africa:
MMABUKA BOGOPANE, from North-West province
TEBOGO MORAKE, from Soweto in the Gauteng Province
HEATHER SEPTEMBER, from Cape Town
KHUMO MAGANO, from North West Province
DESMOND NKOSI, from Mpumalanga Province
PHILA MNCWANGO, from Durban, Kwazulu-Natal
ALICIA BANS, from the Central Karoo
and UNATHI STEMELE, from Cape Town

Volunteers from the UK:
NICK PORTER, from Edinburgh and Newcastle
SOPHIE BAMPTON, from Devon
LAUREN CAPE-DAVENHILL, from London
RICHARD WREN, from Kent
MATT CHRISTODOLOU, from Hastings
LOUISE BOND, from Bolton
MIZNA QURAISHI, from London
SIAN EVANS, from Llanelli (Wales)
and SOPHIE LEWIS, from France

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INTRODUCING THE MEDIA TEAM

Molweni, hi! To start off this blog we thought we’d showcase OURSELVES – the “phase one” Media Team for this Selby-Queenstown Global Xchange – as part of the wider picture…

We have

Tebogo Morake:
I am from a township called Soweto in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. I'm in my final year to obtain my qualification in Marketing through the University of South Africa, and I'm hoping  to enroll for a Psychology degree in one of the Universities in the United Kingdom, as  some of my performance areas at my workplace include guiding and advising young people on issues that affect them on a daily basis e.g issues on HIV/AIDS and career guidance, to name but a few.

Sophie Lewis:
I'm a gap year English Lit student (Oxford), 18, fresh back from a free-lance volunteering escapade in Tamil Nadu (S.E. India). I am an Austrian-born Anglo-German who considers herself French buts feels most at home in the Swiss city of Geneva. I'm mad ("full stop", but also about) theatre, books, and India.

Richard Wren:
I'm 18 years old, British, and have just finished my A-levels at Canterbury College in Kent. I have applied for Journalism & English-based courses at universities across the UK. I have a passion for English and the Arts (especially music), and am delighted to be on the Media Team for this Xchange.

Heather Jane September:
I am 19 years old and come from Cape Town. I speak English and Afrikaans. Currently I'm on a gap year, and will probably study Chemical Engineering in Cape Town next year.

As you can see our origins, tastes and backgrounds are highly disparate. Even so, we are hard put to “represent” the incredible diversity of the team as a whole, with its Welsh, Sotho, Tswana, Xhosa, Bengali, Greek, English, French, German, Zulu, Swati, and Scottish make-up. This is, in our opinion, variety at its best. Long live diversity! If you were to see us together, singing and dancing, sharing experiences, practising languages, and generally learning from each other’s cultures… you’d have to agree.