Fundraiser Save the Date

We've been busy bees this week and you'll soon find out why! Here's a little teaser to keep you guessing until then:

Weekend Inspiration*

WOW!!! It's the weekend already!!

Team246 has had a week of reflection and re-focus.

We wanted to leave you with a few words of wisdom that have really spoken to us as a team this week. It is a beautiful African Proverb. 

So this weekend keep this message in mind! Go for a hike with friends & family or anything that involves a group activity. Experience what it feels like to be part of something :)

Let us know your plans for the weekend!

BOOM • CLICK • CONNECT • FORWARD

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

We thought today would be a perfect time to

share our fun motivational tag line;

 BOOM • CLICK • CONNECT • FORWARD 

This fun phrase has been passed around and modified by all of Team 246

 members. It is a phrase which has grown to inspire us, encourage us, refocus

 us and well it just sounds cool! 

This was our THOUGHT PROCESS while creating it:

• BOOM - Have an idea.

              • CLICK - Find like minded people.

            • CONNECT - Connect with them

    • FORWARD - Take Action. 

So from all of us at Team246 we wish you a

Boom • Click • Connect • Forward weekend!

Team246. Changing attitudes--> influencing behaviour--> impacting Barbados

Creating a chance. Making a difference. Effecting a change. 

So now that you are aware of how Team246 was born and what it is about, it is time to flip another page in our unfinished chapter and find out how we plan on promoting social awareness and civic responsibility among the youth of Barbados.

Our main aim is to change attitudes towards volunteering and community service amongst the youth in the island and region (in the future). Team246 will strive to show the young people that volunteering is the new 'it' thing to do! Volunteering is indeed cool! 

We plan on accomplishing this goal using various avenues including that of volunteerism, where it will be a more relevant, visible, accessible and engaging process to those involved.

In order to make volunteering more visible, we will make use of the amount of time spent online by youth and will start conversations through various social media platforms such as facebook and twitter. We are hoping to make volunteerism a part of their every day life, general discourse and their overall consciousness, while also reaching out to the schools and communities along the way.

For volunteering to be seen as relevant, it should be promoted as a tangible benefit of gaining valuable work experience for CVs and college applications.

Giving the youth the tools at their fingertips with which they can shape novel ideas that will impact the community will make this process a more engaging one. It will also offer them the power and responsibility to make a significant difference on a local scale and beyond.

We live in and are part of the notorious ‘me’ generation and by changing these attitudes, we hope to change behaviour and make this into a 'we' thing.

Stay locked to this space to find out what the next step is on Team246's path!

Team246 as a volunteer platform

Our 'AH HA' moment came during one of our meetings. We were all confused, frustrated and losing our cool: How were we going to move forward as a team when we were all involved in different things?

Rather than focus on our differences, we decided that we needed to focus on what we had in common: volunteering, social consciousness, youth development and a burning desire to make Barbados a better place. This was our true purpose and it was then that we decided that Team246 would focus on leadership and youth development through volunteering. 

We aim to become the premier volunteer platform for youth in Barbados; a reliable source of information on volunteer opportunities and networks which are available to people in the island. We will promote a culture of social responsibility amongst our youth, by advocating for more people to get involved in their local communities. We hope to change the attitudes towards volunteering, by promoting it as an opportunity to network, strengthen community ties, to add value to a CV and to gain personal fulfillment.

We’re a diverse group of young Barbadians who are committed to making a difference. We are students, entrepreneurs, idea engineers, environmentalists, scholars, bloggers, designers, artists, ambassadors, athletes, humanitarians, movers, shapers and young island shakers. We, as individuals have displayed leadership, a concern about global issues, the ability to generate and articulate impactful ideas, teamwork and evidenced commitment to volunteering and other extracurricular activities.

We hope to help shape Barbados’ future by raising awareness on different issues close to our hearts; environmental sustainability, opportunities for the youth and health care in particular.Though we are all involved in diverse causes and projects, we are bound together by one single goal: to raise awareness of the value of an individual’s time to create a positive social impact and as a result, change the behaviour of Barbadian youth.

In order to change behaviour though, we must first change attitudes and that in itself is a major challenge.

Stay tuned to find out more about how our story unfolds!

And so it began...

1. In October of last year, Malou attended the One Young World youth leadership conference in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Read all about her experience here.

2. Even though this experience was life changing for Malou, she could't help but feel like there was something missing. She kept thinking about other people who could have benefitted from the experience and wanted to make sure that more Barbadians would be able to attend the next conference in South Africa. The idea to have an entire team of Bajans representing our island was born and Malou got in touch with people straight away.

From Top left to bottom right: Annick Reifer, Danielle St.John,  Nikola Simpson, Dominique O'Brien, Ryan Forde, Krystal Boyea, Alan Warner, Melissa Abed, Hasani Brooks, Mikaela Davis, Alex Abed & Malou Morgan

3-4.  Krystal Boyea & Nikola Simpson - While at the conference Malou thought about Krystal and Nikola and how much they would benefit from attending a conference like this. She knew with their involvement in the environment and Krystal’s involvement in diabetes, they would benefit from attending OYW.  

Danielle St.John - Malou had blogged about her experience at One Young World which spiked Danielle’s interest. She knew she was passionate about leadership and was eager for Malou to share more about her experience. Malou encouraged Danielle to sign up to attend the conference after learning about her involvement with educational outreach. 

Mikaela Davis & Dominique O'Brien - After the article was published in the newspaper, Mikaela and Dominique expressed their interest in the conference. Dominique was looking for an outlet for her creativity and felt that coming together with a group of like minded people would be an opportunity for her to work towards a greater good. Mikaela had worked in youth development and public health abroad and was excited about the opportunity to collaborate and learn more about One Young World. 

Ryan Forde & Alan Warner - Krystal was excited about the cause and contacted Ryan and Alan, our forward thinkers, because of their background in sports and team related ventures, they were keen to work with a collaborative effort. 

Annick Reifer, Alex Abed & Hasani Brooks - Malou spoke to Annick and with her law background, we knew she would be a great asset to the team. Alex and Hasani, already involved in youth development initiatives, shared their experiences in South Africa and conferences with the group. 

Melissa Abed- Malou still excited and keen for more people to join, spoke to Melissa, with her background in public health and experience in youth education, got excited and came on board to join the group. 

5.  After talking the talk, we needed to walk the walk! We organised a meeting at Krystal's house and Malou presented the idea of Team246 to everyone. Read a more detailed account of our first meeting here.

6. We had such a diverse range of interests and as inspiring as this was, it was also going to be a bit confusing trying to collaborate as a team. How could we avoid becoming a mish mash of ideas? And, most importantly, as exciting as this all sounded, what exactly would Team246 be about and what would we contribute to Barbados? We needed to focus on our main goals and aspirations, not as individuals, but as citizens of a country that needs positive change in certain areas.  

7. After all of this, we realised that we were focussing all of our energy on going to South Africa and missing our true purpose. Team246 needed to become more than a trip to Johannesburg, it needed to be more than a group of young people attending a conference - we needed to focus on the bigger picture.

Find out more about the bigger picture in our next post :)

Social Media Launch - BOOM BANG!

Team246, officially launches online today! WOOOHOOOOOOO!

After 3 months of blood, sweat, tears, lots of coffee, meetings, squabbles, laughter & hard work, we're officially letting the world know what we're about!

Team246 is about leadership and youth development through volunteering. We aim to become the premier volunteer platform for youth in Barbados; a reliable source of information on volunteer opportunities and networks which are available to people in the island. We also wish to promote a culture of social responsibility amongst our youth, by advocating for more people to get involved in their local communities. We hope to help shape Barbados’ future by raising awareness on different issues close to our hearts; environmental sustainability, opportunities for the youth and healthcare in particular.

So bloggy friends, please have a look & support us via our Facebook, Twitter & Instagram profiles and stay tuned for our upcoming Team profiles, video & blurbs, outlining who we are in a little more detail so that you can really see what we're about!