Hi everyone I’m Dewayne from the BBSports Team, leaving my mark on the BB Blog!

July has been a very busy month for the BBS Team with workshops everyday. We have been working mainly in Hackney & Newham, which meant lots of travelling across London, mostly sat still in traffic I must add.

The last two weeks have been slightly different for the BBSports team, we had two additional members join us on loan (work experience) – Josh and Dewayne from Shirley High School to see how BBS works and to help them develop their knowledge of the working environment both in the office and out on the ground.

From their first day they got stuck in, they helped with planning and admin in the office and out on the ground they slotted into our workshops effortlessly. By the end of it they had firmly established themselves as part of the team and I am looking forward to working with the boys in the near future. Well-done guys great work it’s been a pleasure!!

Note to school: Shirley High you have some great ambassadors for your school

Alas it is all nearing an end though as the schools are getting closer to their summer holidays, teachers are starting to let their hair down and pupils are getting extremely excited! It’s a good time for teachers and pupils but the work here at BBTowers goes on!

Summer brings a bit of downtime here at the office, it will allow us to assess our sports programs, develop new ones and refine our deliveries and team procedures. It is also a time where the sports team does what it does best! WATCH SPORT!!!!

As the name suggests BBSports is charged with keeping up to date with all the sporting events happening over the coming months also I have to acknowledge the amount sports that have already been completed this summer:

Wimbledon – Congrats Rafa Nadal well deserved also congrats Henman on your first Final appearance (all be it commentating)!!
Euro 2008 – Congrats Spain you were great to watch!! Also congrats Peter Jones for having Spain in our office sweepstake

Up and coming events……

Olympics – Will Tyson Gay win Gold? Should Dewayne Chambers run? How many medals will Team GB get?

The Open – Who will win with Tiger being out for the season?

Cricket – Will England beat South Africa?

Premier League – Will Chelsea pip Man Utd this year? Am I right to write off Arsenal’s chances before the season even starts!!!

And the big question that everyone has on their lips…

How many things will Spurs win this year? COYS!!!!!

I look forward to all your answers peeps


Dewayne signing out.

Hello everyone I hope you are all well out there. As always it’s really busy here at beatbullying. I am busy building partnerships and booking in workshops for our CyberMentors national pilot, and am delighted to have Doncaster on board again.

We first worked in Doncaster last year running a 10-week panel, creating an anti bullying campaign with 25 young people from a variety of secondary schools. We met every Monday after school at the Regent Hotel. The young people involved were a great bunch and I have fond memories of them. They turned up every week and ended up producing a great campaign for their borough.

We were asked to work in Doncaster by Ed Milliband the MP for Doncaster, so every Monday we headed up to Doncaster for the panels. We did something different at each session discussing all the different types of bullying such as Physical, Verbal, Emotional, Psychological, Racial, and Homophobic bullying. We talked about how being bullied effects a young person, what the consequences of bullying someone may be, why people bully, how they do it and why they do it. Quite a few of the young people on the panel had been bullied and talking about it so openly helped them deal with it, and also helped the other young people that hadn’t been bullied hear what it is like for someone.

We also did some drama and roll play, acting out different scenarios, which they really enjoyed filming and playing up to the camera. They designed leaflets, posters and even their own website. Also we trained them to be BeatBullying Mentors, which they enjoyed. Finally the campaign was rolled out to all schools, youth clubs, libraries, doctors’ surgeries and health clinics. The Young people got up and told their audience about the work they had been doing and the campaign they had produced. We were all proud of them and their achievements at beatbullying and it was well worth sitting in the mini bus for 7 hours crawling up the M1 motorway, but that’s a whole different story!

It was great working with those young people and hopefully we will see some of them again in their schools when we are up there in January 2009, training them to be CyberMentors. Watch out Donnie we’re coming back!

~Laura Smart

Girls Aloud have joined forces with the UK’s leading bullying prevention charity, Beatbullying, to help launch its annual Celebrity Auction on Friday 11th July 2008. Each member of the band has donated the outfit they wore when performing their number one hit Sexy No! No! No! live on BBC1, to be auctioned by the charity on Ebay.

In addition, pop sensations The Sugababes are offering 2 lucky fans the opportunity to see them perform on their latest UK tour and get to meet them backstage.

Fans can visit www.ebay.co.uk/beatbullying to check out these lots, as well as an array of other items donated by a host of Beatbullying’s celebrity supporters including Nicole Kidman, Everton FC, Avril Lavigne and the Arctic Monkeys.

Bidding opens on Friday 11th July at 9am and ends at 6pm on Sunday 20th July 2008. All monies raised will go to help Beatbullying deliver its award winning sport and music based Peer Mentoring work into schools and communities throughout the country.