Trust Youth and British Red Cross training events!

Last month, Trust Youth packed their bags to travel round the country putting on half-day training events in collaboration with the British Red Cross for our school teams in London, Belfast, West Midlands and Wiltshire.

First off were two sessions in London, under the skilled direction of the Red Cross’s Rachel Booles and Andy Lloyd. Rachel and Andy started off with a fascinating pitch about the work of their organisation. This showed the astonishing range of services the Red Cross provide – it’s not just about international development or first aid.

Then came the first workshop, on message communication, vital for Trust Youth teams who are entrusted with putting across the message of the British Red Cross in their school. The Crown Woods team, from Greenwich, immediately set the pace, with creative ideas on ways of designing a poster as well as how to catch the attention of their audience.

After a quick biscuit break the Red Cross team went straight into their second workshop on how to put on an event. Teams were asked to think up an event and to budget and cost for it. To the dismay of the party-lovers in the audience, it was emphasised that it’s a lot harder to put on a bash than it first seems! Ashburton School in Croydon came up with some interesting ideas for events.

The final workshop, on leadership, was the best received, with teams having to build a free-standing paper tower, with the highest one the winner! Teams had to choose a leader, who had to orchestrate the building but couldn’t touch anything. They were given a budget of £5, with each item (paper, sellotape, paper cups etc) costing a certain amount. After much debate, activity and outstanding feats of engineering the winners were announced, with The London Academy, from Edgware, showing great creativity and building nous!

Many thanks to the Red Cross for putting on the sessions, which received fantastic feedback from the teams. Log back later to see reviews of training in our other areas!