#charlottewareham

1. In certain settings and industries such as Hip Hop "you have to be able to go with the flow and things don't always keep to time."

2. "Wear black if you want to be a photographer, you have to be invisible."

3. When doing photography "you've gotta love the art, not for glamour or money."

4. "Be committed and aware that it's not going to happen overnight. Discipline and reliability is surviving and thriving as a freelancer, and don't let the boring stuff go unattended."

1. Pre-Professional Jitters are Normal

Wondering what stepping into your first professional setting within the Media industry will be like? Well aren’t we all. Nerves and anxiety are normal and this can feel overwhelming, but also quite exciting to be starting a new position in the first step of your media career. Assistant Producer, Jordaan Shelley states “you’re always learning something. Something you didn’t know last week; you’ll know next week. Take things step by step.” Along with this, Digital Creative Producer, Fred Bhat says to “thrive off of the fear and terror”. Those worries can be used to push you further in your goals and mean that you really care about what it is that you are doing.

2. Wise Words for the Freelancers and the Creatives out There

Managing yourself, your business, your workload and your aspirations can all be a handful. Knowing how to manage your time and even working for yourself sounds like a fun, independent role, but in those times of procrastination and watching your favourite TV show remember these wise words from Journalist and the Founder at Freedom is Mine, Fayida Jailler, “apply the work ethic to your own work as you would in the office/workplace. Set your alarm to get up in the morning, eat breakfast… as you would do for a 9am-5pm job. Treat it as if it’s your job and don’t be distracted.” Jailler also states“You need to have a strong idea of how to execute your vision.” Planning is key and figuring out how you are going to achieve your goal/vision is imperative.

3. In the Relationship of a Lock and Key, YOU ARE THE KEY!

Wednesday 13th May

“Tilly wonders what to do when the TV is turned off. A whole new world is opened up for her when a little bird helps her discover the garden is just one big toy box”.

Harriet Hobday’s illustrations will be published in a children’s book for the first time with Nature’s Toybox.

Nature’s Toybox encourages children to leave screens and embrace nature as the main character, Tilly discovers a whole new world on her doorstep when the TV is turned off. The book is beautifully illustrated with Hobday’s vibrant illustrations, bringing to life the wonders of the great outdoors inspired by her trips to France. Hobday says  “I used colour evolution in the book”...”to reflect when she is becoming more engaged in her surroundings and her imagination is completely captured”.

Nature’s Toybox will be available in retailers across the UK ; set to be released on the 20th October 2020, due to the virus the new date is TBC. Ironically this book comes at a time when we want to explore the outdoors more than ever. Despite being aimed at 3-5 year olds, people of all ages will be inspired. 

About the Illustrator

Harriet Hobday is a young illustrator based in Edinburgh. After completing a BA in Illustration she pursued her love of children’s books and went on to complete a MA Children’s Book Illustration in 2018. 

Since completing her MA Harriet was approached by Claire at Holroyde Cartey and is now represented by the agency. She has worked with a number of clients including Conde Nast Traveller Magazine but has focused on creating a portfolio of children’s illustration work. 

Her illustrations have been met positively with awards such as The Batsford Prize (2018), Cheltenham Illustration Awards (2017) and The Macmillan Prize for Children’s Illustration (2016). 

For more information and to see Harriet’s full online portfolio please visit http://www.harriethobday.com/ and follow her on Instagram @harriethobday for beautiful sketchbook pages and exclusive updates on her work.

For further information about Storyhouse Publishing or any of their books please visit https://storyhousepublishing.com or contact them on 07971926120. 

You can also email Rachel Lawrence, Director of Storyhouse Publishing at [email protected].

South London Cares is a charitable organisation that has created a community network of young professionals and older neighbours to connect and help one another, and as is evident in the name itself, they definitely do 'care' about their local community. During this time of self-isolation they are doing their part to keep their organisation going, and participants feeling connected and supported as much as possible. Here are 4 reasons why this organisation is a great choice for Greater Londoner.

1. Helping the Community

With nowadays a lot of people not knowing or speaking to their neighbours, South London Cares (based in Brixton, South London) provides a way to break the social separation, helping young and old people alike by bridging the generation gap and opening up each side’s experience. A big part of the aim being to bring people together in order to reduce any division, allowing people to get to know different types of people as well as their neighbours and understanding who is in the community. This is helping the older residents in the community by providing one-to-one time together with their neighbours through the Love Your Neighbour scheme. This is a friendship matching scheme giving them companionship, and allows them to have someone to talk to and conversate with. South London Cares also provides services and hold programmes such as social club events and community outreach which helps to keep participants entertained and involved. Raising money and fundraising is another key part of this charity, in order to keep supporting those in their community. An evaluation published in 2019 which was conducted over 18 months by their social research partners Renaisi, showed that as a result of being part of South London Cares older and younger neighbours alike feel closer to another generation and feel that they belong.

2. Caring about Wellbeing

An important objective of theirs being to reduce isolation and prevent loneliness. On the NHS UK website, research shows that: “According to Age UK, more than 2 million people in England over the age of 75 live alone, and more than a million older people say they go over a month without speaking to a friend, neighbour or family member.” However, loneliness does not discriminate, and anyone of any age (the young included) can feel lonely. At a time like the present, people can feel particularly lonely, more so now as everyone has to be in isolation. They make sure to keep in contact with everyone who partakes in their organisation, to keep everyone up-to-date, positive, and less lonely, helping to improve the mental health of everyone involved. Elderly people are prone to being left by themselves and with younger generations working and keeping busy too, this gives them the opportunities to slow down but whilst still working and contributing by volunteering with others. Interacting with each other can be good for both sides mental wellbeing and allow them to get to know the people in their community. This can help them to discover new things about their community such as the rich history it may have as some of the people they work with have lived in that area/community for many years.

3. Remaining Positive

They refuse to have anything get them down, including not letting COVID-19 dampen their spirits by remaining enthusiastic, motivated and hopeful. This is helping to reinforce positivity, which is needed at a time like this and allows the people within the community to not feel disheartened. A way they are doing this is by launching a matched crowdfunding appeal to raise £20,000. This is to help them work with older people who are most at risk of COVID-19 and social isolation in the forthcoming weeks and months. Their aim is to maintain a strong relationship with older people by staying connected and by sharing messages, pictures and content sent in by the public for support. They have also had a lot of individual offers from younger neighbours who want to help any way they can, including conversing over the phone, and want to ensure their older neighbours have the support they need during this time of self-isolation.

4. Nesting Doll of Heroes

South London Cares is a community organisation filled with Hidden Heroes, making them a network of heroes within heroes that all have interesting stories to tell, bringing awareness to some of the great things their older members have experienced. An example being a woman called Margaret, who in 1939 when World War II broke out, wanted to help out in some way, and so decided to join the NAAFI (Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes). The job entailing catering for the armed forces as part of the canteen service stationed at their bases, where they provide food to servicemen. Margaret reminisces on the days when she would go to parties as she loved dancing, and speaks on how they remained resilient throughout the war. She claims that her attitude towards life is what keeps her going.

To watch the video of Margaret tell the tales of her past, please visit: https://youtu.be/nYcYgNae6ZU

South London Cares does a lot of great work. They have managed to gain the local community's attention along with mine. This is an important cause that deserves the support. Their website allows the public to see all the great work they do and promotes the people who participate in South London Cares. This includes telling the stories of older members and seeing upcoming news. The 5th reason why they are great that I forgot to mention:

All are welcome to participate and anyone can help in a variety of ways which can be found on their website.

When Miss World was first brought to us in 1951, who could tell that 68 years later it would still be going strong, with ongoing debate around its purpose and what it means for women. Every year millions of people tune in to watch Miss World. So why is it in a world where we know women are more than just their looks and with Miss World over the years facing backlash, that a large number of people still tune in to watch this annual pageant?

In light of the recent release of the movie Misbehaviour which is about the 1970s Miss World beauty competition involving a group of women who planned to disrupt the pageant, here are 5 reasons why Miss World is still popular and not as outdated as people think.

1. More Than Just a Pretty Face

There is an assumption of beauty pageant contestants being bubble-head beauties using only their looks to succeed, or feeding into the old stereotype of women having no more than their looks. The idea of women competing with each other in a superficial ‘beauty pageant’ did not come off the right way to a lot of people, deeming it to be toxic for women. With protests in the 1970s by Women’s Liberation and feminist protesters being annoyed with the fact that the pageant focused too much on the physical appeal of the women participating in the competition to the pleasure of male gaze and patriarchal power. However, this is not the case as the contestants now have the opportunity to demonstrate that they are intelligent women with ambition and drive, with the contestants having a variety of experiences, knowledge and skills such as degrees in various subjects and some being able to speak multiple languages. There is also the Talent category where each contestant showcases their talent to the judges. Talents include singing, dancing, poetry and many more. This now allows contestants to show their individuality, passions and interests in more ways than just one. It focuses on personality and what each contestant has to offer.

An important part of Miss World is the passion for helping communities that need it and to depict their humanitarian side. A way they do this is through the charity named Beauty with a Purpose, which is said by the Chairperson and CEO of the Miss World Organisation and the Founder of Beauty with a Purpose, Julia Morley to be “the heart of Miss World”. This is where the contestants with the help of their national organisations set up Beauty with a Purpose projects and the contestants work for a project that helps the people in their own nations/countries. This helps to raise awareness about certain issues in the world and raises money for many good causes. For example, the 2019 Miss World contestants include Miss Mongolia whose project was to provide vaccines to prevent the spread of the Hepatitis B virus, Miss France who is a hearing child of deaf parents is fighting for recognition of deaf culture and French sign language. Miss India’s project included providing local employment allowing women to gain financial independence. 

2. Out with the Old

Continuing to move away from the focus on just the contestants looks is evident as in 2015 Miss World no longer included the swimwear round. This is part of the pageant’s shift to focus more on personality and intelligence rather than looks. The first year of the pageant was exclusively swimwear based, following this was two countries threatening to pull out of the competition on the basis that it was immodest. The swimwear aspect did continue as one segment by itself, with other elements being introduced such as the interview portion of the competition. In the years prior to its end, organisers found the swimwear round to be old-fashioned and not necessary. In a 2014 interview with Elle Magazine, chairperson Julia Morley explained the active changes she made to the pageant: "I don't need to see women just walking up and down in bikinis. It doesn't do anything for the woman. And it doesn't do anything for any of us." She states: “We are really listening to her speak”, showing they do take these women seriously and value what they have to say and contribute. She continues to say “We’ve evolved so much” demonstrating how Morley believes the pageant has come a long way.

3. Provides People with Opportunities

Miss World not only helps people in the communities and countries of where the contestants are from, but helps the contestants themselves by providing them with opportunities they may not have had otherwise. They get to experience new things and meet a whole range of new people. They get to travel the world and it gives them recognition, allowing them to do things like continuing their charity work and raising awareness about issues that are important and personal to them. After pageantry some of them continue to go into other industries such as entertainment. Miss World is a route for some contestants to have the chance to experience a very different life, a life where they may not have had such opportunities otherwise, and in the process be able to help others in the same way. After all, they are representing their nations/countries, which comes with the charity work they do which also helps to provide opportunities, bring awareness to certain issues and provides a better living standard to the people in those countries.

Not only this, but it provides the contestants with transferable skills that can be used in other areas of life such as for work and public speaking. Teamworking skills, being poise, having good posture and being articulate are all qualities that they have and gain through the process. Overall how they conduct themselves contributes to the perceptions of beauty. Rather than just on the basis of solely someone’s face, physical attributes or how pretty people may find them to be, it is about who they are altogether.

4. They Rise to the Challenge

The women that participate in Miss World are definitely put through their paces before they reach the final stage. Some of the challenges and tasks included in their busy schedules are sports/fitness challenges, rehearsals with a choreography routine and other pre-show events. They have a strict regime for how everything is scheduled, from having their hair and make-up done to when they work out. This proves how strong and resilient these women have to be to get through all these stages. This also shows how committed they have to be, the hours they put in and the work they put in.

An example of a contestant who shone with her confidence and resilience was Miss Nigeria (Nyekachi Douglas) in the 2019 Miss World pageant. In a section of the competition where she performed a dance to judges, her wig came off. She laughed it off which showed her sense of humour and how grounded she is. When it came to the final stage in London, she flaunted her natural hair, showing how she took advantage of the situation and even when asked about it, she jokingly said: “the wig was not supporting and so I had to let it go.” She held her head up and ended up getting into the top 5 finalists in the competition. Douglas was also very supportive of other contestants which was evident with her excitement when Miss Jamaica, (Toni-Ann Singh) won the crown that same year. The judges seemed to like Douglas’ character and she even won the Miss World Africa title and the Top Model category of the competition. 

Once the contestants start they have to be emotionally and mentally prepared for how much goes into being a contestant and perhaps even a winner, the aftermath of Miss World being crowned consists of more than just being the winner who gets to wear the glistening crown. She has to continue travelling around the world and represents the Miss World organisation everywhere she goes which carries a lot of responsibility. 

5. YES LADIES, REPRESENT!

Miss World allows people from all across the globe to see different people, from different backgrounds and races. With nowadays over 100 countries participating each year in Miss World, pride is something that can be felt by many people watching, especially when they see their country’s contestant appear on stage. There is a segment of Miss World known as the National Costumes as the name itself states, each country’s contestant wears attire that represents their nation, culture and country. This sends emotions of joy rising with audience members waving flags and clapping. There is even the sense of support, with contestants in the background joining in with each other contestant’s cultural dances. Contestants from around the world get to connect and learn about other cultures and so do the audience. This helps to lower any presumptions anyone may have about certain cultures. As well as this allowing everyone to see different cultures and ideas of beauty, not just the usual Eurocentric standard of beauty and for young girls to see people that represent them.  

Miss World is now more international and inclusive with a larger number of nationalities being represented. This raises the prospects of any ethnicity being able to win and succeed as much as any other. 2019 was the first time when 5 pageants; Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss America all crowned contestants who are women of colour. Miss Universe, Zozibini Tunzi, who represented South Africa in 2019 said: "I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered to be beautiful". She also told CNN in 2019 “…that's why this is so important, because then young girls can look at us and feel like they, too, are important." This promotes confidence and embraces beauty that comes in different forms, that all contestants and races have an equal chance. This is not exclusive to only beauty, nationality or race but is about being a figure that helps inspire others. This can help to influence the next generations in these communities/countries, and even all across the world to one day feel they can do the same as the contestants have done, or give them hope to believe they can achieve their own aspirations and goals without limitations. 

In the early years of the Miss World pageant contestants were mainly white, and were still predominantly crowning white winners at this time of its existence. The film Misbehaviour follows the 1970 Miss World competition where the first black Miss World was crowned named Jennifer Hosten representing Grenada, along with the 1st runner-up being Pearl Jansen, Miss Africa South (South Africa) who was also a black woman. This was the first time they had allowed a black candidate to compete alongside a white candidate with both representing South Africa. This was a pioneering moment in history that has contributed to the Miss World we know now. Before this the first non-white person to win Miss World was Miss Egypt in 1954 followed by Miss Venezuela a year later in 1955.