The Stake meets the challenge of engaging young people on personal finance head on in an interactive, learn by doing, peer-to-peer led format. Throughout the competition thousands of young people will be pitching their ideas and completing various challenges along the way that help them get to grips with managing their money.

The top 20 ideas, as voted by the stakeholders on the site, will be reviewed by a panel of Channel 4 and Barclays judges and up to 6 winners will be awarded up to £20,000 prize funding for their ideas. The winners will be supported by Livity and Barclays mentors throughout the implementation of their projects.

The Stake is a non-traditional way of teaching finance or enterprise. It’s not about homework or complicated jargon. It’s about learning by doing, the process of peer-to-peer collaboration, sharing and supporting fresh ideas whilst helping to improve young people’s financial capability in the process.

Throughout all the work we do, we hold on to the belief that if you trust young people, they become trustworthy. If you give them responsibility, they become responsible. Our longest running project, Live Magazine, is a prime example of this, and so too is The Stake…

Watch The Stake TV advert here

Delivered by Livity in media partnership with Channel 4 Education, somewhereto_ is inspiring people to think differently about space and what it can be. We know that all young people need space: it might be a dance studio, a warehouse, or a basketball court. But it could also be a digital space – a well-known blog, column inches in a magazine, time on-air or on-screen.

In every region of the UK, regional coordinators are working with young people who need space, and individuals or organisations with access to or influence over how spaces are used in their local communities.

We’re also unlocking high-profile, ‘dream’ spaces: spaces young people would never usually be able to access for everyday use. Most recently, we were at Number 10 where free runners, boxers and spoken word artists spent the day doing the things they love and filming a trail about what space means to them:

somewhereto_ are currently partnering with Catch 22, UnLtd, Junction 49 and O2 Think Big, engaging a huge network of young people across the UK. And with space partnerships with organizations like LandAid and Telereal Trillium, somewhereto_ are unlocking thousands of square feet of underused space nationwide.

-”Young people need to be given the chance to chase their dreams and the space to land them. A space to play, a space to perform, a space to meet, a space of their own.”

Clive Jones CBE, somewhereto_ Advisory Board

somewhereto_ is funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games across the UK.

www.youtube.com/somewheretochannel

www.flickr.com/somewhereto_

https://twitter.com/#!/somewhereto_

Livity secured urban music artist Devlin, who composed, wrote and recorded ‘Teardrops’, a bespoke track and video for the campaign. Devlin recorded the track except for the ‘final verse’, which was left for our audience to complete with their own performance.

Entrants sent in their own videos, which were then integrated into Devlin’s master video and hosted on YouTube for people to see, share and ‘like’.

The winning entry was professionally re-recorded, filmed and promoted through our youth networks and partners. Livity partnered with influential digital broadcast channel SBTV to help amplify the campaign.

This activity created conversations not only around the entries and lyrics, but also around ChildLine.

Final Verse received:

- Over 1,000 entries,
- Over 100,000 comments and ‘likes’
- Over a million channel views

http://www.youtube.com/finalverse2011#p/u/6/0_jwZJK8uAs

We identified amazing young people making a difference in the world and highlighted youth led social projects across EMEA. We started conversations with young social entrepreneurs, developing a peer network of young people who are passionate about making a change in the world.

We brought 12 of the most outstanding young people to Google Zeitgeist Europe 2011 – the first time young people had attended the event. They were mentored by top Google staff and took to the stage in the first ever Zeitgeist Youth Panel to challenge and inspire the world’s leading thinkers and innovators.

• Entries from across Europe, Middle East and Africa
• 46,000 website visitors (KPI 10,000)
• 13,500 video views (KPI 7,000)

http://www.youtube.com/user/ZeitgeistYoungMinds

“Livity, you brought the Young Minds idea to life – they inspired our Googlers and delegates at the event”
Amy Brown, Google

“This was a life changing experience”
Sadiq, Young Mind

I visited Belfast to see Pocket Park, a somewhereto_ created by a group of architecture students who wanted to get creative with space.

Their aim was to create some green space in the city and redress the balance with the number of car parks. In Belfast city centre there’s the equivalent of 15 football pitches of parking spaces compared to only two and half football pitches of actual green space.

somewhereto_ is all about opening under-used space. We do this by getting young people and space-holders alike to think creatively about how they view space so that it can be used to allow young people to do the things they love.

Aaron and his friends transformed four on-street parking spaces into green space for the evening with the permission of Belfast City Council, with grass and flowers replacing the road, and bird-song replacing the drone of traffic going by. Passersby could take a seat in the somewhereto_ Pocket Park created by Aaron and his friends and children were able to make their own art with chalk drawings on the pavement.

The young people’s somewhereto_ coincided with Culture Night Belfast, a celebration of culture and the arts across Ireland with over 150 events spanning theatre, music, circus and literature. In the short time that I was in the city I came across a pop-up cinema, comedy in a caravan, street magic, live music in a square and a parade. Lots of spaces were opened to the public as part of the event as well as the somewhereto_ Pocket Park which helped to show the potential of linking young people and their passions to events like these to make their somewhereto_ happen.

One of the great thinkers of history said that.

Well, OK so actually it was Marge Simpson but there is no denying she’s got a point. This quote felt completely appropriate to me whilst attending the Wavelength Reconnect 2 event on Tuesday.  The theme of the day was Leading in a Digital Age and it made me feel incredibly inspired about using digital for business, campaigns and most importantly how, in reality, digital can really change the world – for the better.

First up Richard Sambrooke who is Global Vice Chairman and Chief Content Officer at Edelman. He was Director of BBC News and then World Service where he had a sudden realisation that digital was not something he couldn’t ignore. He ran through the various networks at the disposal of leaders (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin etc) and his insight was that digital “commands a more humble style of leadership.”

Speakers also included a Google techie whizz Dan Cobley, Director of Comms for Starbucks Tim McCoy and Jacob Boetter.

Some of the digital wonderment included an interactive billboard, which combined speed camera technology with digital roadside billboards to tell around 200,000 drivers what the best oil for their vehicle. The idea involves a camera recognising a number plate almost instantly getting the car information from the DVLA database and then changing the billboard to recommend the right sort of oil for their car.

Other guests included Co-founder of JustGiving Anne-Marie Huby (true source of the Marge quote) and Patrick Meier who set up Ushahidi.

Ushahidi is the Swahili term for ‘witness or testimony’ and is crowd-sourced platform that was initially developed to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post-election fallout at the beginning of 2008. The website was used to map incidents of violence and peace efforts throughout the country based on reports submitted via the web and mobile phones. The technology has since been used to support rescue efforts for the Haiti earthquake and the tsunami in Japan. Check it out:

So from one extreme (selling car oil) to another (saving lives) digital is without a doubt powerful tool that can be used to help solve the problems of mankind.

So on that note, I’m with Marge, we must at least try.

A lot has been written about Google+ in the last three weeks, although Facebook and Twitter are still dominating online chatter. This may seem counter-intuitive to anyone working in social media but it’s not that surprising when you consider how much that has been written about Google+ includes the inevitable comparison to these social giants. This post won’t be any exception; however something has become increasingly clear over the past two weeks. Google+ is not the new Facebook, Google+ is the new Twitter in a Facebook skin.

The key difference is that of symmetrical vs asymmetrical connections. On Facebook connections are symmetrical, if you friend someone they must friend you back. Consequently your connections on Facebook are more likely to be with people you know and trust in real life, and at the very least you know who you’re sharing with. Contrast Twitter where connections are asymmetrical and you can follow or be followed without reciprocating. Your updates are publicly broadcast and connections are often based on common interest rather than familiarity; so you may not know who you’re sharing with but there is an increased opportunity to spread your message, discover interesting content, and forge new relationships.

As on Twitter, so on Google+ where connections are asymmetrical; however unlike Twitter not everything you say need be public. To follow someone on Google+ you must add them to a circle; a list that categorises your connection to that person or the reason you’re following them. These circles provide two levels of control; over whose content you’re reading and who can see the content you share. Neither feature is new, they are provided to an extent on both Facebook and Twitter, but I suspect these features are either underused or unknown on each platform. Not so on Google+ where listing, or rather ‘circling’, is a integral part of how you connect.

Default circles provided by Google+ are Family, Friends, Acquaintances and Following; the last of these described as “people who you don’t know personally, but whose posts you find interesting”. In other words the sort of people who you would follow on Twitter, not Facebook. This is important to understand when considering who you’re sharing with; you can share publicly, with your extended circles (friends of friends), your circles (everyone you’re following), specific circles, or specific individuals. If you’re thinking of Google+ like Facebook you may choose to share a private update with just your circles, but remember this probably includes your Following circle, people you don’t actually know. Shifting your understanding to use Google+ as you would Twitter makes much more sense.

Despite these comparisons it is important to also consider how Google+ is different. There is a point to be made that although many aspects of Google+ already exist elsewhere the combination of these features into one platform represents something entirely new. Secondly, although there are familiar aspects Google+ has the potential to go much further with unique features like hangouts, as well as an integration with Google’s pantheon of other products including Gmail, Google Documents, Blogger, Picassa, YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Search etc. This isn’t just another social platform, this is the integrated socialisation of your entire web experience. Google don’t need to bring people to Google+, they can introduce Google+ to everyone who already has a Google account.

So what does Google+ mean for digital marketeers? At this point it’s hard to say, although Google+ has grown at an astonishing speed, hitting 20 million users in three weeks despite limiting entry, it is difficult to predict how many users if any will switch their attention from other platforms. Twitter and Facebook provide different formats for conversation with different types of audience. How this new hybrid platform will come to be used, the opportunities the product integration may provide, and the potential implications for SEO (this is Google) will be interesting. The latter though may have potentially serious implications for increasing the problem of The Filter Bubble.

“When Sam and I found out what amazing people we were shortlisted against in the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur awards we felt proud to be finalists amongst such amazing leaders and organisations (Sir Tim Smit of  The Eden Project, Sue Riddlestone of Bio Regional and Emma Stewart and Karen Mattison of Women Like Us)

And we truly felt that we had got as far as we could in the brilliant Ernst and Young Entrepreneur awards.

“So, why on earth prepare a speech?” you’re all wondering.

Good question. 2 reasons:

1. Sam my brilliant business partner is currently taking a break in Mexico, asking the woman he loves, to marry him (she said yes). Now anyone who knows Sam and I will know that I’m ‘the quiet one’ … and he… is…not the quiet one and he would feel far more comfortable up here with the mic. I, however, am someone who needs to prepare.
2. Secondly, you just never know… as has been played out to me this evening.

In 2008 Sam and I were finalists in this same category and we lost out, quite rightly, to Ian MacArthur and John Bird of Big Issue. Rather than be disappointed to lose, we felt inspired to go away and ‘be better’ and so we pledged to continue building the business of Livity, proving the concept of Livity and delivering more business and social benefits to our clients and young people in equal amounts… until we were good enough to try again for the awards – and win. Think it, say it, do it. And here we are.

Thank you to the judges for recognising our improvements, growth and our ever-increasing ambition. Thanks and well done to our fellow finalists – we represent one of the most important and exciting developments in business and the community and must continue to support and inspire one another.

Thanks to everyone at Livity – we have a brilliant team – each and every single one of them. Thanks to our families and friends for supporting and believing in us and the business. Thanks of course to our clients and the biggest thank you must go to all the young people who have come through our door, been involved in our campaigns, the magazine, our workshops and apprenticeships – they are why we get up and go to Livity every morning.

Thank you, I’m really really thrilled.”

Sam and Michelle now go through to the UK finals in October…

Here she shares her experiences and her words….

I was invited to speak at the Women and the Big Society 2011: Blast from the past or new vision? Both in my role as a Nexter and as a Fellow of the RSA . Mostly though, I was there to share my experience as a female business owner and leader.

This RSA Fellowship Women Speakers’ Network event, in association with the Big Society Network, set out to discuss the role that women will or already play (and have been playing for many years) in The Big Society… a movement promising to build a better and happier UK through civic enterprise.

Steve Moore of the Big Society intro’d and hosted us and humanitarian and FRSA Louise Burfitt- Dons led the discussion.

Here’s what I shared in my 3 minute slot…

“My business Livity has just celebrated our 10^th Birthday.

For a decade, we have been proving the concept that you can run a profitable business model that has social objectives and purpose at its very core.

We are proving to some of the biggest brands in the world that you can align business objectives with social objectives – that benefit, in our particular model, young people, and achieve a win/win.

We are now 37 people strong at Livity, with a majority make up of 27 brilliant women – It’s important to say that the 10 men we employ are equally brilliant! – but only 27% of our workforce compared to the 73% women.

We insist on recruiting the very best people to work with us – I’m not interested in whether they are male or female – although I do think that culturally it’s important to achieve a healthy and diverse balance – and that is a business benefit that many businesses simply have not grasped any further than box ticking.

I do feel that women gravitate towards our business, because it combines creativity and innovation with social purpose and benefit. And I witness first-hand the pride and purpose our teams seem to have working in their various roles at Livity (in a recent employee satisfaction survey we scored 95% for “proud to work at Livity” ) and I do think that, it is because, as human beings we increasingly crave purpose other than that of simply earning and making money to exist.  So, yes, maybe women are slightly further ahead on the evolution scale on this one.

That said, increasing numbers of men are attracted to our business model, mostly reflected at the moment by our clients, from the likes of Google, Coca Cola and Sony PlayStation.

I’m in agreement that women are perhaps more naturally inclined towards Big Society, – whether it be in a voluntary and community based role, or like my employees through their careers, and I absolutely champion that, but where I become really excited and where I believe the vision and ambition has to be set, is for business to take a greater role and responsibility through it’s models, methods, finance, reach and relevance in order to truly tackle some of the bigger problems that society is now and will in the future experience. And I truly believe more and more canny business leaders will see the value that such an approach will bring to their core business and brand – starting with the sense of purpose and pride they can give their employees with such an approach.

Finally, I’m keen to know if the panel and the audience believe that business and brands have a role to play in the notion of ‘Big Society’?

And if they do participate meaningfully, whether over time, this might help and address the lack the diversity and inequalities that many sectors are still challenged by – by attracting and benefiting from the masses of untapped and undervalued female talent?”

A healthy discussion ensued, business cards, tweets, new contacts shared and common interests were found.

It was a thought-provoking evening and a really good partnership between RSA and The Big Society Network. Here’s to more discussion and more importantly here’s to more ‘getting on with it’.