Nice or Naughty?

When I was younger, I published little books on how to choose the right career and what teenagers want from parents. These were amazing resources at the time (if i could say so myself)) that helped young people and families to make informed decisions. My goal was and still is to produce innovative products that make big difference in people’s lives young and old. 

Let me introduce my new invention: Nice or Naughty educational card game. This is an interactive card game designed to illustrate good behaviour to kids through play. It allows parents or teachers to engage pre-schoolers comparing good and bad behaviours as shown on the cards. 

At the ideation stage, this card game idea won first prize at University’s (UCLAN) Pecha Kucha challenge with funding to produce prototypes for testing with families. The card game was also then showcased as an innovative piece of work by a student. 

My biggest challenge has been sourcing a publisher for this card game as it differs from the conventional book production. I decided to take on this challenge through a crowdfunding campaign https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nice-or-naughty/nice-or-naughty. It has been exciting working with illustrators from the UK, graphics designer from Pakistan and printers from Hong Kong.

Nice and Naughty card game will be on Amazon in a few days and I can’t wait to see the realisation of this dream. My vision is for this card game to go into as many homes, schools, and nurseries as possible.

One Team, One Dream

Remarkable!
That's not a word I use so often, partly because English is not my first language. Hahaha!
The delegates at this year's @UCLan CVCL leadership bootcamp have been simply remarkable. 

A unique mix in cultural diversity and age demography. Each individual with different inspiring life stories and admirable aspirations.

Its been rewarding watching the group forming and bonding, and the interesting likes, unlikes and likes again, lol. Most importantly, it has been a pleasure to see some finding their voice and growing in confidence. 

I relish the opportunity to be part of their journey as they progress with courage and self-belief knowing that "fear kills more dreams than failure ever will". 
Cherios
Lanre Olabode

Making a difference

What an incredible difference one year can make. One of the most important decisions for me in 2015 was quiting my promising job for full time a social work degree. It has been a wonderful journey.

Celebrating Nyarai

While it has not been plain sailing, I have had the privilege of meeting some amazing students and staff at UCLan who have helped to shape my experience.

How Volunteering Saved My Life

At different stages and places I have found myself, volunteering has proven to be a potent source of inspiration and opportunities to accomplish great things. I guess one could say that volunteering is freely offering one’s skills, talents, time or just taking off your gloves and getting involved with an organisation or a project without expecting payment.

I traced back my volunteering journey to when as a young adult I volunteered with the youth wing of my then church. Attractive visuals and “fresh” outlook always make an impression on me, and I recall helping to refresh the look of the meeting space every weekend and the invigorating impact it had on the young people.

One of my most memorable experience with this group was when we decided to carry out a social action project from zero budget. A bunch of mostly high school teenagers led by an unemployed high school leaver. Out of all the suggested projects, we managed to settle for the hardest to achieve: Revamp a disused library of a local high school in the community.

And just in case you are probably wondering how we got on, well here is what we did:

1. We washed every church member’s car on a Sunday for donations.
2. We used the donations to design and print Easter greeting cards that we sold to members, family and friends.

3. We then used the funds to pay a decorator, an electrician and a woodwork man for repairs at the library while we did the hard labour of cleaning and removing unwanted items from the room. We recreated the space good enough for students to go in and read and that was joyful.

4. We even had time to share our faith with the students at the end of the week.

I know I am making a case for volunteering and you may want to ask how volunteering saved me, I wasn’t actually dying in the real sense of it, but as a young person who had somehow lost zest and motivation, this volunteering experience as well as many others I undertook, steered me in the path of renewed commitment to my Christian faith and a firm believe that I can make a positive difference in my life and that of others.

Lanre Olabode