As part of our ongoing relationship with leadership development programme The International Exchange, W+K Account Director Hanne Haugen is about to embark on a project in Uganda. Here's an introduction to the project from Hanne and a little bit about what she has planned during her time there: 

In less than three
weeks, I’m off to Uganda for a month to work with an education project in rural
Uganda called The Kasiisi Project. This is very exciting (naturally), but what’s
it got to do with my day job?

The link is The International Exchange. The brainchild of Philippa White, TIE pairs
the expertise of communications professionals with the needs of non-profit/non-governmental
organisations to create positive change.

For the NGO, this
programme provides valuable communication expertise, which is often something
that they are desperately in need of. Making sure the their message is clearly understood, heard and spread,
can make a huge impact for the development of a project and shore up its
long-term sustainability.

For an agency person
like myself, it gives me an opportunity to learn and grow by sharing my
knowledge with organisations, communities and people who face a very different
reality than I'm used to.

16 Hanbury Street is
full to the brim (quite literally) with a lot of very talented, passionate and
dedicated people. What TIE does – and why it’s so important – is give us the
chance to use our skills in a new context and see that they can affect real,
tangible change. It allows us to see the value in what we do.  Because what we do is valuable. That’s why
we do it.

This is my first post on
W2O about the month in Uganda I’m about to embark on. It’s not going to be
the last. In the meantime – you can read more about my project and keep up to date with my
experiences in Uganda on my blog. 

http://alessoninuganda.tumblr.com/

What more could we ask for in our teeny tiny gallery this month than Adam + Gurtekh's Hands On London campaign?

The recent advertising graduates from Sheffield Hallam University create a simple yet thoughtful body of work aimed at encouraging people to donate their old toys to help others less fortunate than themselves.

Recognisable, discarded toys were set up in 'homeless' scenarios around the city with cardboard signs reminding people to donate their unwanted toys to Hands On London so that they could be recycled and loved once again.

Characters were also set up in supermarkets with toy donation boxes.

The kind folk here at Wieden + Kennedy love helping people so we are delighted to have Adam + Gurtekh come in and kindly loan their work to us. We also have a toy donation box in reception so colleagues can donate their unused toys.

If you would also like to make a donation please pop by and do so.

Any more information about Hands On London can be found at:

http://www.handsonlondon.org.uk/en/news/toy-donations-needed-storms-creche

Adam + Gurtekh can be found on their website: 

http://www.adamgurtekh.com/