As a parent, relative or friend of someone who isn’t working right now, it’s hard to know how to help. With as many as one-in-five 16-24 year olds now looking for work, the highest ever on record, part of the 2.47million adults unemployed, most of us know someone in that difficult position.

While it can be a frustrating and disheartening time for anyone who can’t find work, it’s equally tough for those around them who are desperate to help – but don’t know how. Is it possible to offer genuine help without patronising? How can you motivate and inspire your loved ones to get off the sofa and onto the career ladder? At what point do you offer direction?

The good news is, there are opportunities out there, and not always in the jobs section of the local paper. For example, The Vodafone World of Difference programme, delivered by the Vodafone Foundation charity, is giving 500 people the chance to get a two month placement with a local charity of their choice – and be paid for it!

Time spent working for a charity is not just a rewarding experience for the worker, it will make a big difference to the charity, the wider community, and make a big impression on the CV. For those not currently in work, or anyone looking for a new challenge, this is the perfect opportunity to donate time and experience to charity.

The World of Difference project is open to anyone over eighteen anywhere in the UK. Applications must be in by the closing date of November 3, and should include details of the charity you would like to work for. The two placements can be taken in either January or April 2010 and the Vodafone Foundation will pay the charity chosen a total of £2,500 with the winner getting the balance after tax and national insurance has been paid.

In Episode three of our four-part Web TV series, we are joined by property magnate Caroline Marsh – who has firsthand experience of uplifting people to reach their goals, as seen on Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire. Caroline is joined by professional life coach Rebekah Fensome, who specialises in helping individuals realise their life goals, and improve their confidence and self esteem. There will also be more information about the World of Difference, and what to do next.

For more information visit http://www.vodafone.co.uk/worldofdifference

H: Vicky Letch, host
C: Caroline Marsh, property entrepreneur
R: Rebekah Fensome, life coach

H: Hello and welcome to the third in a series of special Vodafone Web TV Shows, I’m Vicky letch. Now we all know how difficult the job market is right now, with around 2 ½ million people out of work and as many as 1 in 5 16-24 year olds not in employment, education or training, most of us probably know someone in that situation. It’s knowing how to help them that is the challenge. Well, doing some work for a charity could be a great solution. The World of Difference programme is giving 500 people the chance to work for a UK-based charity and get paid for it by the Vodafone Foundation. Applications are open now for the 2 month placements, which will earn you £2000 for your efforts, and there’s £500 for the charity as well. Joining me today to talk about this is property entrepreneur and one of TV’s Secret Millionaires Caroline Marsh and Rebekah Fensome, a professional life coach. Thank you very much for joining us today

C: Thank you

R: Thank you

H: Thank you ladies. Do remember at home of course, we are live so if you are interested in this fantastic opportunity, if you have any questions, pop them in the box below, click submit and we’ll endeavour to answer as many as we possibly can. Thank you to both of you. And of course we know we are in difficult times at the moment and there are a lot of young people struggling to find work at the moment

C: Yes it is a great challenge, I mean we can all see what’s happened in the current economic – and things have gone you know, not quite as expected. People have lost their jobs, companies have shut down, basically I’ve come from Swindon and already the Honda plant actually shut down a few months ago

H: Yes

C: And that mean a lot of people were out of employment

H: Yes

C: So that’s a huge knock-on effect on the economy as well as the community, so yes –

H: Including my cousin who was at that Honda plant

C: Really?

H: Yes. Actually that kicks off a question, thank you very much from Mrs D. Taylor. She says “my son is 23, and has done his degree in media studies but is struggling to get work in the media, apart from a lot of unpaid work which doesn’t seem to be getting him anywhere. He’s also done the travelling thing. I think doing something like this would make him more employable. Would you agree?”

R: Absolutely. I think that would be a great thing for him to do, but I think the key really for her is just to make sure that that’s something he wants to do

H: Yes

R: Obviously coming out of the world of media, and going into charity work, it’s a very different sector

H:Yes

R: So it’d be something he’d obviously need to be interested in doing

H: Yes and that’s very important actually because this is obviously the third in our series for World of Difference, and two of the biggest words that are coming out if you like as a focal point, is “passion” and “drive” – so if anyone wants to be a part of this program, there are 500 places but of course there’s going to be a lot of people –

C: True yes

H: Interested, so you do have to display passion for your charity as well

R: Absolutely

C: Yes. And it’s to encourage him as well. I mean he’s going to get paid for it

H: Yes

C: You know, there’s a good side to it. He’ll be giving back into the community, making sure that he’s making a real difference in an area,

H: Yes

C: Could have been with his skills – you don’t know what he will have to – because if he’s that qualified it means that he can actually give back a lot more than he – might be underestimating, there might be charities out there that he can benefit from. So I would say go for it

H: Absolutely

C: Encourage him to say – apply for it and see how you get on, yes

H: And talking about “skills” – obviously it’s not just young people. There are so many skilled workers at the moment that are struggling with work

R: Absolutely and – I’m getting a lot of people coming to see me and you know not only just wanting to maybe do something that they’ve done before but also apply those skills in a very different context, and I think you know within this charity context would be a great way for them to do that, and also get a sense of fulfilment

C: True

R: You know one of the common things that people come and see me about is –

H: Yes

R: Yes I like my job but do I really feel fulfilled? Does it really make me feel good about myself? And you know most of the time no

H: Yes

R: But working for a charity, seeing those visible differences, particularly for your local charity, makes a big difference to your overall satisfaction and fulfilment level

H: Yes

R: As an individual

H: Absolutely. I think we have another question – do we have another question coming through? Yes we do. Oh. From Mrs D. Taylor again – this is – “my husband was made redundant a few months ago. He is 55 and struggling to find work, but cannot abide sitting around doing nothing. Can you help me convince him this would be an ideal way of keeping active, and keeping his CV topped up?” Mrs D. Taylor, do you want the house to yourself? I’m starting to think you do! Any advice?

C: Yes I would actually say, like her son before, it’s not a case of getting rid of him or trying to say – I think it’s inspiring them to say look –

H: Yes

C: You will get some satisfaction after doing this. You’re giving back something into your community, and out of all of that you will benefit because you get paid for doing it

H: Yes

C: But at the same time you also – that sense of fulfilment. I mean when I give away something to somebody, I feel – when I see their faces, it’s like wow, you’ve done this for me, and you think gosh I feel valued because I’ve made the difference in somebody else’s life

H: Absolutely

C: So I would say she should just encourage them

R: Encourage, definitely

C: Encourage them to say look, this is what’s going on and offer it to them and hopefully they will all sign up and she will have the house to herself!

H: She likes the sound of that! Caroline, because you were talking about inspiring people, how do you inspire people? How do you motivate people? What are your secrets?

C: Personally I think it’s more – in the person that you become when you inspire somebody else, and I tend to kind of like go into people’s life and say what is it that you want to do? What is it that is made out of you? And out of all of that I inspire people to be the best they can be in the whole of the world. I mean it’s tapping into your untapped potential. We all have – I’m sure with your coaching, we all have our potential and the things that we can do and I inspire people to say do you know there’s much more of you than you might be experiencing right now, so –

H: Yes

C: I mean the other thing that did was obviously appeared on the Secret Millionaire and for me that whole thing was to inspire people to be able to make a difference, you know in people’s lives. So my giving, yes I gave away some money, but actually I see that as just a small portion of what I did, but it’s inspired other people to get involved in other community stuff

H:Yes

C: To be able to – like evolve the whole thing. I do hope these two will do the same thing

R: Domino effect

C: Yes exactly

H: Yes absolutely. Question here from Stevie, this is for you Rachel. “I was made redundant nearly a year ago, I’m feeling very disheartened and useless. What would you suggest?” Oh Rebekah, sorry. Forgot your name! Rebekah

R: Well obviously this person here has got a little bit of a self-esteem problem

H: Yes

R: He’s been knocked down a little bit, so the best thing for him is to really re-evaluate himself as a person, you know what do I have to give? What are my attributes?

H: Yes

R: What makes me different, what makes me unique? What do I value myself? So maybe thinking about his achievements to date

H: Yes

R: Really reminding himself and then using that to fuel him – do you know what, I can – I have got something to give, I have got something to offer so real self-empowerment

H: And what if it’s not the person you’re talking to in this situation, but for example my other half isn’t doing too well – how – what sort of tips would you give to people like that to approach the other half without sort of patronising and –

R: Do you know what, more often than not what we do is we like to give people our opinion

H: Yes

R: And “I believe if I were you I would do that” doesn’t really work, you know it’s much better to coach or facilitate that person to get them to make the decision themselves, and you do that through and indirect approach

H: Yes

R: So indirectly plant those seeds, so you might leave the web page open on the laptop or the computer at home, you might leave the advert stuck on the fridge with a magnet. You might leave it lying around so they come to you – ooh what’s this?

H: Yes

R: And you sit down together and say oh yes I was meaning to look at that, that looks really interesting, someone had pointed that out to me. So a real indirect approach, very collaborative

H: Yes

R: So you bring the person along with you

H: Ok

R: To make that decision

H: And not directly manipulative like me when I think I’ll make him think it was his idea all along! Actually that ties in with Lisa’s question, thank you Lisa, she says “my son is on the X Box all day” – other games consoles are available – “and just doesn’t seem like he’s into anything, I’m worried that if I apply for him and he gets chosen he won’t do it. What can I do? A desperate mum.”

R: She shouldn’t be applying for him

H: Yes I agree

C: No, no. It’s like pushing him to do something else, but if he’s not interested –

H: Yes

C: One he won’t be of any value to the charity and to himself as well so I would say no

R: But she can use those little seeds around the house

C: Yes absolutely

H: Planting seeds – and also as I was saying you know in the applications there are, I should think, going to be quite a number of people applying. They do need to see passion and they do need to see drive –

C: Absolutely

H: From the person whose going to be doing the work, but you know maybe this will push him into some positive changes anyway. This ties in nicely with Rach’s question, thanks Rach. She says “my boyfriend Billy wants to do this but will never get around to filling out the form” – that sounds like me – “can I fill it in for him?”

R: Fill it in with him

H: With him

C: Yes absolutely

H: There we go

C: Not for him, with him, because at least then he’s a part of it

H: Yes

C: So he’s actually doing it. If there’s challenges there actually –

R: Yes application forms can sometimes be a sticking point –

C: True, yes

R: But it can be if someone’s got the fear or they’re not feeling confident about themselves

H: Yes

R: So actually lending a helping hand and facilitating again – absolutely, lovely thing to do

H: And I do think us Brits sometimes we’re a little bit naff at selling ourselves

R: It’s true

H: I don’t think we’re necessarily excellent at that at all times

R: No it doesn’t come naturally

H: It doesn’t come naturally so dig deep and yes, sell yourself as a superhero although I’m sure you are. Barry Meade, thank you very much for your question, he says “my son has mild learning difficulties, does this preclude him from applying? Yours, Barry.”

C: I don’t think so no

R: No

C: He’s included. Obviously he’s just got to make sure he checks with the charity he wants to work with and see – you know how they feel about him having a disability.

H: Yes

C: But otherwise he’s more than – he’s entitled to actually apply for –

H: Absolutely and as you were saying everyone has a skill

C: Yes

H: Something to offer. In fact if you go onto the website and have a look at the charity matchmaker that will help you get matched up to a charity that will be worthwhile for both of you, and of course approaching your charity, talking to your charity and saying what you can do for them and seeing if you would fit. And actually Dave, thank you for your question. “My wife and I would like to work for our local church group restoring the community centre. Can we apply together?” That sounds fantastic.

C: Wow why not

R: Wonderful, good for teamwork. Common goal, common shared goal between a couple is always a lovely thing to do, yes.

H: Absolutely I think that’s good. Look we can save marriages just doing this program as well! No I’m just kidding, kidding, kidding.

C: Get people put together

H: So we are running out of time, let’s get down to the nitty gritty – deadline –

R: 3^rd November

H: Ok and how do people apply?

C: They go online

R: Online – online application form and ideally before that, you know choose your charity, your local charity, call them up, have a conversation with them about it and then fill out the application form. It’s as simple as that

C: And to go online the website is www.vodafone.co.uk/worldofdifference

H: Brilliant. And also very quickly there are people out there who have never considered working for a charity, and this program could potentially make a huge difference to their live

C: Absolutely

H: It could possibly be ongoing

C: Yes

H: And also charity work we see does have an immediate impact on communities, you’ve seen it yourself haven’t you?

C:Yes

H: Through your television career

C: Yes, yes. I do believe even just for the person themselves, because they will find that actually they have something valuable that they’ll want to give on an ongoing basis, for example I’ve given away Toxteth, I thought it was going to be a one-off thing but actually I’ve gone back

H: Yes

C: Now I work with them over a period of time. So you will find that you have something valuable you can actually go back to the charity, and offer it on a voluntary basis moving forward

H: Yes absolutely

C: So that will benefit yourself and the local charity

H: Yes. Ok Charlotte thank you very much for your question. “I want to do this! Can you sort me out with a charity?” Oh now Charlotte come on, that’s not very proactive is it? What do you say to that ladies?

R: Well I think a good starting point for Charlotte would just be to understand what it is that makes her feel really passionate?

H: Yes

R: What is it that she really cares about? Even if it’s a small thing there will be a charity that covers that and go from there. It should be about a personal passion or a personal belief

C: Or if it’s such a challenge for her she can actually go back to the website

H: Yes

C: Because there is a section that actually matches what you want

H: Yes

C: Or which charity you’re wanting to work for, so as – you know apart from doing that she can actually log on and find out there

H: Absolutely and Charlotte you are demonstrating the passion which is brilliant

C: Yes

R: Yes

H: And we just need to direct it, in a direction

C: Yes

H: That’s great. So the final question, because we are running out of time, this is from Brendan Shannahan, thank you very much Brendan. He says “this sounds good. I can’t think why anyone wouldn’t want to do it.”

R: I agree

C: I couldn’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to do it either

R: Completely

H: It’s a lovely, positive note to end on

R: It is. It is

H: Ok so ladies just to wrap up, any final tips and advice for people out there, if they want to apply?

C: My final advice would be, do you know – having taken part in a voluntary thing myself, having given back in the community, I would say there is – if there’s one thing that you have to do when you go out there is to give your whole heart into it

H: Yes

C: You know like when you go out there make sure that you’re giving all that you have to the people, and expect nothing. It’s not about you getting – expect nothing and you will be amazed how much will come back to you

H: Yes

C: But just go out there giving it all that you have and just enjoy it. Enjoy it. Plus your’e getting paid for it, I didn’t get paid for it –

H: Exactly

C: I had to pay!

H: You had to pay – hang on a sec!

C: Yes!

R: And from a pure life coaching side, get up and do it now. Don’t procrastinate, go and do it now

C: Yes

R: And hurry up, it’s the 3^rd November, the closing date so you don’t have much time

C: It’s true, it’s two weeks from now

R: Get cracking

H: I actually think I need you in my life! Can we become new best friends?

R: Of course!

H: Right that is all we have time for, thank you so much ladies and of course thank you for outlining this amazing opportunity. If you want further information or you fancy applying, do log on to www.vodafone.co.uk/worldofdifference. You can also keep up with the program at facebook.com/worldofdifference. The deadline for applications, as we mentioned is the 3^rd November so come on, time is running up. Good luck to one and all and I very much look forward to seeing you here, same time, same place, next week. Goodbye

Still got a question or comment?

Name

Your question Question

Enter code