The time I gave directions to Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the world’s greatest living explorer
… and how his current Saharan fundraising adventures for Marie Curie are an inspiration. “How do I get from Stansted into central London?” Sir Ranulph Fiennes asked me in an 11pm phone call, after I’d spoken with a colleague to confirm his flight. On travel-mode auto-pilot, I instantly replied: “You catch the Stansted Express train […]
Case study: how volunteering can help change your career
Meet Mark. He changed his career in his late 40s through volunteering, and now works his dream job as a successful gardener for a stately home in Yorkshire, UK. This is his story of how he “turned a crap situation into a brilliant one”, and his top tips for how volunteering can help change your career. When […]
Looking back: Networking, volunteering and finding Mr Right
Looking back. I don’t know about you, but it’s not something I’m very good at. I don’t really want to dwell on a broken relationship, or a gossipy work colleague. But looking back is a brilliant way to help you realise just how far you’ve come. A few months ago, I wrote down what I […]
The A to Z of gap year planning. Part 4: U to Z
“I’ve got zillions of gap year ideas – how do I narrow them down?” Visas, work, and what to do with all those gap year ideas – we’ve got it covered in this, the fourth post on gap year planning. If you missed the earlier posts in the series, you can find them right here – […]
The advantages of volunteering from home
If you’re considering volunteer work on your career break, there are some definite pluses for keeping it close to home. You may be sacrificing the experience of an exotic destination; but being home-based comes with its own set of advantages. Here I explore some of them, plus my own experiences volunteering from home in the UK. […]