Kent Foundation News

The Kent Foundation – Kent Charity Awards Finalist 2016

by digitalbeans

Kent Charity Awards 2016 Finalist…The Kent Foundation

On the 10th March we attended the Kent Charity Awards 2016 to see if we were a winner of Voluntary Charity of the Year. We did not win but came away as a Finalist. This in itself is a massive achievement considering the amount of entries. We are super proud to receive this award for the second year running. It serves as recognition for our work to support young people and not forgetting the crucial part here, the time our volunteers provide to our charity to make it all happen. Their time really is priceless to us – so thank you! It is always amazing to see so many good causes/people coming together in one place for this event. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists and keep up the great work!

IMAG0030Some of the charity finalists pose after the ceremony. The Kent Charity Awards finals 2016, from the Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone. Picture: Andy PaytonVoluntary Charity of the Year finalists - Liam Behn for Kent Foundation. The Kent Charity Awards finals 2016, from the Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone. Picture: Andy PaytonIMG_20160310_214220Kent Charity Awards 2016 Finalist The Kent FoundationKent-Charity-Awards-49

Kent Foundation News

French work experience student supports Kent’s young business owners

by digitalbeans

Tell us about yourself:
Work Experience student Cyntia
Name: Cyntia Correia
Age: 19
Hobbies: I like dancing, shopping, laughing, watching movies, listening to music, going out with my friends or family, sometimes I like staying home by myself and relaxing…

Tell us more about where you are from in France…
I’m from Marseille a city in the South of France. About 1.7 million people live in the metropolitan area and about 850,000 in the city itself. This makes it the second largest city in France by number of people. It is the third largest by size. Marseille is in the South, just at the Mediterranean Sea. It has the biggest commercial port in France. The port is one of the most important ones in the Mediterranean. In Marseille we have very hot weather with beautiful beaches…

Why did you come to England for your work experience?
I’ve always loved English, learning new languages and new cultures, and I’ve always had a good level in English, so when I went to College on the first year they made us pass a test to decide if we had the right education to be in the European Section, and I passed the test (I had my best friend with me so it was great) 🙂
The European Section has a project called Erasmus and every year students travel to England for work experience.
That’s why I was interested in entering the European Section, because I was so excited to know that I could have the chance to travel to England.
It has been an incredible experience for me that I will take with me for the rest of my life.


French Work Experience StudentsWhat does The Kent Foundation do and what was your role? 
Kent Foundation helps young people open up their own businesses. They train “Mentors” that are men or women that have experience in business and can help young business people. To decide which Mentor goes with which Mentee they have a “Matching” step which consists in interviewing the Mentee to know what their business plans are for the future, their ideas, their experiences, their skills and based on that they match the right Mentor and the Mentee hoping that everything will go just fine. My role at Kent Foundation was to support Liam and Paul with both office based tasks such as administration, preparing for events and managing/inputting data right through to external events such as meeting people at workshops, events and exhibitions.

Where did you go and what did you see in England?
During my stay England I went to London on the first week, me and my friends went to Camden Town and Oxford Street, it was very nice, but the most important thing was all the people I met during my work experience, English people are so nice, I participated in so many events and meetings. Everywhere I went people started talking to me without knowing me and asking me questions about my life and that for me, was so lovelyyyyy.

What have you learnt from your experience?
During my stay in England I’ve learned so much about myself and my motivations in life.
Kent Foundation Work ExperienceOnce, in the office I had a conversation with Liam and Paul and they told me that everything that happens in your life it’s based on the choices you make, you got to know what you want, fight for it and work for it, not just wait for something to happen. That conversation made me think so much about what I want for my future, I’ve got to be more motivated in what I do so I can get what I want, they told me that if I’m not happy with something in my life I need to change it or just leave it like that.

I’m only 19 and it would be hard to continue with something that I don’t like for the rest of my life. I just want to say thank you to Paul, Liam, Stuart, Rob, Camellia and every other person that I met, I can’t remember the names of everyone because my memory is horrible, but I will never forget them. This work experience made me grow up so much.

Merci Beaucoup, Muito Obrigada, Gracias

Cyntia

Star Business of the Month

Day One Wellness – Star Business of the Month – April 2016

by digitalbeans

Day One Wellness is a holistic personal training company. We create and deliver programmes that make it as easy as possible for busy people to restore their health and transform their bodies naturally.

Day One Wellness - Be More BootcampsI started the company in October 2014 because like everyone, I absolutely hate seeing people suffer, so I wanted to create something that provided a real solution to all the problems I was regularly getting asked about. It seemed like no matter who I spoke to, people were complaining of low energy, low self-esteem, health problems or battles with their weight that was making them unhappy.

At the time I was working on a public health contract helping obese children and their families embrace a healthy lifestyle. A large part of my role was collaborating with dietitians and psychologists where I was exposed to a variety of different nutrition principles and behavioural change theories, from there I emerged myself in anything I could get my hands on to do with these topics. I’ve never been to university (apart from a brief soccer scholarship in the states – but that’s another story) but I’ve probably paid Amazon a similar amount to tuition fees in the amount of audio-books and paperbacks I’ve purchased!

The ‘Ah-Ha’ Moment for Day One Wellness

Day One Wellness Personal Training & Nutrition CoachingLike most business ideas, my ‘ah-ha’ moment for Day One Wellness was less of a light bulb and more of a combination of life experiences. I think particularly in customer facing roles you have to serve your time in the trenches first to discover and develop your own unique style. For me it was the combination of personal training in both the public and private sectors as well as the numerous life lessons, cultures and environments I experienced whilst travelling through Asia, living in New Zealand and experiencing my most physically demanding job to date; being what my mum liked to call a ‘Chalet Bitch’ for 5 months in Austria.

I eventually decided to take the entrepreneurial plunge after about 6 months of living with a nagging feeling that I should be doing something more. The first goal I set myself was to be 100% self employed within a year of starting which I’m pleased to say, not only did I achieve but by the time the year was up I was paying myself more than my last job too!

Day One Wellness As I’m writing this the business is still in its infancy – just 19 months old, and I’d never of predicted where we are now from where I started. We’ve recently moved into a new base at Southcote Chiropractic Clinic, working alongside some exceptionally experienced and educated health professionals. Our team of trainers are growing by the month to keep up with client demands, both for our 1 to 1 coaching programme and group coaching services, plus I’m doing a lot more ’empower workshops’ in the corporate sector to meet the wellness demand on the County’s workforce.

The vision for Day One Wellness is to be Kent’s most influential well-being company by 2020, providing inspirational outdoor venues and exercise referral schemes that make ‘healthy’ affordable, accessible and most importantly enjoyable for as many people as possible. It may seem like a big goal but if there’s one thing I’ve learnt in the last 19 months, it’s to keep faith and focus on one step at a time!

Business Tip

“My advice to any young entrepreneur, as cliché as it is coming from me is to invest in yourself first, you are the driving force behind your business so reserve some of your energy for you! Provide your body with real foods that fuel you, move hourly to stimulate more blood to your brain, switch technology off when you are socialising with friends and family (trust me you’ll need them) and prioritise your sleep because you are much more productive at 5am if you’ve got to bed by 10pm rather than attempting to pull an all nighter!”