Citizen Journalism and Open Government

April workshops at The Journaling Club hosted by Patricia. A space for exploring different journaling techniques, building confidence in your artistic skills and meeting likeminded people - away from screens! All materials are provided - only bring your journals. To bring: Your journal - this can be in your preferred size and shape Weekly themes: 13 April - Blooming Flowers 20 April - Whimsical Landscapes 27 April - Freedom & Protest

**What Is a Fair Society?** Justice is one of the most fundamental — and often contested — ideas in society. In a world shaped by inequality, opportunity, and competing interests, what would a truly fair society look like? Should fairness mean equality for all, or is some inequality acceptable? And if so, on what basis? Drawing on the work of John Rawls, this session explores the idea that a fair society is one we would choose if we did not know our own place within it. From this perspective, Rawls argues that inequality is only justified if it improves the situation of those who are worst off, offering a powerful way of thinking about fairness, opportunity, and social responsibility. The session will begin with a short introduction (around 10 minutes) to set out the key ideas. After that, the emphasis is on discussion and participation. The aim is to create a space where ideas can be explored together, with time for questions, reflection, and open conversation. No prior knowledge is needed — just curiosity and a willingness to think together. **Where:** Downstairs room, Square Pig, Holborn (private room) **NB:** The event begins at 7pm, doors open at 6:50pm. Event ends at 9pm **Format:** 10-minute intro talk → vote on questions → small-group discussions → share insights with the whole room **Discounts**: If cost is a barrier, we want to make the session as accessible as possible. If you are a student, unemployed, or on a low income, please feel free to send me a direct message to get a reduced-price place. **Refunds:** If you are unable to attend and would like a refund, please send me a direct message at least 48 hours before the event. Unfortunately, I’m not able to offer refunds for cancellations made after this point, as it becomes difficult to reallocate places at short notice.

NOTE: the pub does not charge for our space on the understanding that we all purchase something from the bar. Please support them. I'll be there from around 7pm if anyone would like a social chat before we get started. **Please arrive in time for a prompt start at 7:30.** Moral blind spots are cases where people or societies sincerely see themselves as decent, yet fail to notice serious wrongs embedded in their own beliefs or practices. They are not usually a matter of explicit cruelty but of systematic inattention, rationalisation, and social normalisation. Institutions such as slavery, public torture, and the legal subordination of women were once treated as natural or even virtuous, and only later recognised as grave injustices. The idea of a “blind spot” highlights this gap between self-image and moral reality. We can distinguish several patterns here. Sometimes people literally lack crucial concepts or facts, and so cannot yet see an issue as moral at all (a kind of genuine moral ignorance). Sometimes they see the facts but interpret them in purely technical or economic terms, so the ethical dimension drops out of view. In other cases they do register some unease, but resolve the tension through rationalisation, group loyalty, or deference to authority, pushing doubts to the margins of attention. There are also cases where people know something is wrong yet remain silent from fear, convenience, or career incentives; the silence of many then helps the blind spot persist as if nothing were wrong. This topic connects closely with classic debates about moral realism and relativism, because talk of “blind spots” and “moral progress” seems to presuppose that some practices are genuinely worse or better, even when insiders think otherwise. It also raises questions about responsibility under moral ignorance: to what extent are individuals or cultures blameworthy for wrongs they could not easily recognise at the time? Psychological research on ethical blindness underlines how framing, overconfidence in one’s own goodness, diffusion of responsibility, and distance from victims all make moral failures more likely and less visible. Thinking about moral blind spots naturally leads to the idea of moral progress and “future-proofing.” Many accounts describe history as a gradual expansion of the circle of beings we take seriously: across lines of class, gender, race, species, and now perhaps even to ecosystems or AIs. If we suspect we too, as individuals and as a society, have our own serious blind spots, what should the appropriate response be? Some possibilities at the institutional level might include: practices that amplify dissenting voices, protect whistleblowers, foster open debate, and build in ethical reflection to professional and political life. For us as individuals, perhaps Cafe Philo discussions like this one could be one small step towards reducing our own blind spots? **Questions to ponder**: * What practices of today might look as obviously wrong to our descendants as slavery or child labour look to us? * Are societies with moral blind spots blameworthy in the same way as individuals? * Can we be responsible for what we cannot yet see as wrong? * Which current institutions are most vulnerable to moral blind spots, and why? * If we really believed we had serious moral blind spots now, what concrete habits would we adopt to address this? **Resources** [Gerald Jones, Moral Blind Spots](https://philosophynow.org/issues/128/Moral_Blind_Spots) – I strongly recommend reading this before the meeting if you are able – by far the best popular article I’ve found on this topic Another accessible overview if you want a second perspective: [Moral Blind Spots](https://lifestyle.sustainability-directory.com/term/moral-blind-spots/) [Moral_blindness (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_blindness) [Stumbling Into Bad Behavior](https://web.archive.org/web/20110424091849/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/opinion/21bazerman.html) – short NYT article [I went to prison for my ethical blind spots. You don’t have to. Richard Bistrong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDnGVxAc7ik) – a business-focussed account (TED video) Thanks to our friends at Cafe Philo Bristol for planning this topic Hope to see you there.

Ready to turn your weekly workout into an adventure? RunBox Westminster is officially open for 2026! Proudly presented by the Westminster International Learning Academy, our programme blends fitness with fascinating storytelling. We don’t just pass by the sights; we dive into the history of the city's most iconic symbols, from Big Ben to the secret courts time forgot. Why RunBox? Expert Insight: Historical tours led with a fresh perspective. Inclusive Pace: Dedicated groups for both runners and walkers. Weekly Community: A new route and a new story every week Snack Included

**The Talbot Room at the George Inn** The George provides the room free of charge (they are awesome), and we encourage you to purchase drinks (and food – the burgers are great!). As it’s a pub and not a picnic area, please don’t consume your own food and drink there. We usually meet in the Talbot room which is on the top floor on the left hand side of the pub as viewed from the courtyard. If lost please send a message here shortly before the meeting starts. **We are sorry to say that there is no step-free access to the Talbot room, and it is at the end of three flights of stairs.** **Format** We start at 7pm and run until 9pm. We hear approximately six readings of 10 minutes (\~2000 words), then discuss the piece for 10 minutes. Email your work to: london60transmitter@emailitin.com as an attachment (It must be an attachment). A link for access to googledocs will be given at the start of each session to enable people to read along, which in turn enables more considered feedback. Work submitted will be automatically deleted after 10 days. We decide on readers/pieces at the beginning of each session. **Safe and respectful space** The group is run by volunteers, and we don’t have the capacity to read submitted work in advance. If there is anything in your work that might distress or disturb some readers, for example concerning any kind of abuse, please give a trigger warning before you read. Be specific and concise. If it becomes apparent during a reading that a piece is inappropriate, the moderator will stop the reading. In discussing others’ work, please be mindful of how you express yourself and do not use discriminatory language, even if such language features in the piece.

First meetup for the Open Table group. This will be a relaxed evening for people who want to meet new friends and have genuine conversations. No agenda, no pressure. Just a drink, a chat, and seeing who turns up. Small group so everyone can talk comfortably.

This is an **in-person** **theatre** and **livestream** talk from the **Royal Institution of Great Britain.** Join engineer and inventor **Lucy Rogers** for a vivid, curiosity-fuelled journey through the sky as a dynamic living laboratory. **ADVANCE BOOKING AND PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR THIS TALK.** **More details and booking instructions on the RI web site:** **[https://www.rigb.org/whats-on/living-lab-above-science-sky](https://www.rigb.org/whats-on/living-lab-above-science-sky)** **SUMMARY** Join engineer and broadcaster **Lucy Rogers** as she blends hands-on demonstrations, modern science, and personal adventure to reveal the wonders visible to anyone who simply looks up. Lucy will begin by recreating classic Victorian experiments, including some from the Ri's own history —from John Tyndall’s light-scattering demonstrations explaining why the sky is blue, to the buoyancy that underpins everything from drifting clouds to soaring gliders. From there, the exploration widens to the many phenomena unfolding overhead: from migrating butterflies and murmurating starlings, to shimmering aurorae and the planets beyond. Interwoven throughout are stories from Lucy’s own field adventures, paired with clear scientific insight into navigation, flight, atmospheric optics, and the technologies that help us study the sky today. The talk will also bring the latest frontier research into focus, inviting you to rediscover the sky as a place of science, beauty, and ongoing discovery. Look up - and see the world in a whole new way. Copies of Lucy's book "[Up: A Scientist’s Guide to the Magic Above Us](https://geni.us/kjGgcLZ)" will be available for purchase after the talk. This is an in-person theatre and livestream event for an adult audience, where the speakers and audience in our Theatre are joined by our audience online. **The livestream will go live around 6.50pm, and the talk will begin at 7.00pm. If you register but miss the livestream, the video will be available to you via the same link for two weeks after the event date.** For more information on livestreams, see the information below, or [visit our FAQs page](https://www.rigb.org/whats/faqs-ri-livestreams). Please use the event link you have been provided with. By booking to attend events at the Royal Institution, you confirm that you have read and accept the Ri's [event terms and conditions](https://www.rigb.org/terms-and-conditions). You also agree to abide by [our code of conduct](https://www.rigb.org/about-us/how-were-run/our-code-conduct-ri-visitors), and help to create a great experience for yourself and your fellow participants.

**Debait - a modern public square that promotes respectful disagreement.** **We offer a much needed alternative to social media "debating". We are anti-ragebait and shouting. Just thoughtful discussions about issues shaping society.** We run an in-person and an online session every week, as follows: * In-person sessions are held on **Tuesdays at 259 Goswell Road, London, between 6pm-8pm** * Online sessions are held on **Wednesdays between 7pm-9pm** All our sessions are limited to a **maximum of 20 attendees** which guarantees that everyone will get ample opportunities to engage. **All our sessions are free for first timers. However, please note that you still need to book via the website (www.debait.co.uk) to secure your place on any given session. Use code FIRSTDEBAIT to claim your free spot.**

Within the last century, society and technology have changed rapidly. We have built tools to expand our reach, to build connections face to face and virtually, as well as tools to destroy each other. Technology is being built to engage needs we don't fully understand, often before the consequences of doing so are known. Examples could be the making and consumption of social media and pornographic content, or the rapid development of AI tools and companion at the detriment of work and social wellbeing. Who benefits when you don't know what normal looks like? If everyone does whatever feels right, is that freedom or just chaos with good PR? If you get to choose your own values, are you really choosing, or just rationalising what you already wanted? Is the real problem the speed of change, or that we never had great norms to begin with? As family, religion, and work weaken as institutions, what fills the normative vacuum, and is it enough? You may like this short video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICRECGVsaRo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICRECGVsaRo) \*Please do your own research and share resources related to this topic in the comment section\* #======# Donation! Thank you for being a member. I have made a donation page for those who want to help with the costs. [https://examinedlife.uk/donation/](https://examinedlife.uk/donation/) #======# Group chat We have a telegram group chat and here is a link for the front door: [https://t.me/+o9T9DL5u6AcwMmRk](https://t.me/+o9T9DL5u6AcwMmRk) #======# The Examined Life, "Let's Discuss..." session is an open discussion. The format of this event will be: 13:15 - Free flow group discussion about the topic. 14:00 ish - We will be splitting into smaller groups for more engaging discussion about what interests each of you. 16:00 - End of the official meetup. Most often attendees stay and continue discussing up to around 18:00. #======# Please RSVP if you can commit to attending and change your RSVP if something comes up. Inaccurate RSVPs can keep potential attendees on the waiting list and makes it difficult to plan for room sizes and bookings. Art work: View of the Venetian Lagoon with the Tower of Malghera 1770s by Francesco Guardi

Calling all Queer singers, songwriters, poets, public speakers, and performers... Join Queer Open Mic London at legendary venue [The Cock Tavern](https://www.thecocktavernlondon.com/) for a night of artistic expression from the LGBTQIA+ community. **If you'd like to perform please get in touch with Josh (co-organiser) beforehand to secure your slot. You can click on his profile to message him, give him a shout in the event chat on this page, or contact him [on Instagram](www.instagram.com/joshandthejumpstarts/).** This event is designed as an informal showcase for Queer performers. Non-Queer friends and allies are more than welcome in the audience. **Sunday 26th April, 2026** **5:30pm-8:30pm** **The Cock Tavern** 340 Kennington Rd London SE11 4LD Local buses within minutes of the venue include 3, 59, 133, 155, 159, 196, 333, and 415. Oval Underground station is 8 minutes walking away while Kennington Underground station is 10 minutes walking. Vauxhall station is 14 minutes walking from the venue, or a short bus ride. *Queer Open Mic is a free entry event and you can support the event and the venue by purchasing drinks at the bar. Absolutely no outside drinks are permitted.*

***"In this complex and terrible development which has carried the epoch of class struggles toward new conditions, the proletariat of the industrial countries has completely lost the affirmation of its autonomous perspective and also, in the last analysis, its illusions, but not its being. It has not been suppressed. It remains irreducibly in existence within the intensified alienation of modern capitalism[.]"*** **\- Guy Debord\, *The Society of the Spectacle*** Welcome back readers! By popular request, we're bringing back (for a new generation of LMRG readers) an old favourite: the always-relevant Guy Debord and his masterful *Society of the Spectacle*. This is meeting two, where we'll be reading the fourth, fifth and sixth chapters. Find the classic text here: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/debord/society.htm Or an alternative, possibly more readable translation here: [https://files.libcom.org/files/The%20Society%20of%20the%20Spectacle%20Annotated%20Edition.pdf](https://files.libcom.org/files/The%20Society%20of%20the%20Spectacle%20Annotated%20Edition.pdf) Often maligned as theorymaxxed nonsense but little-read, this slim volume is certainly dense with ideas - all of which carry as much relevance today as those half-forgotten postwar years when the Situationist International made its mark on the world, if not more. With the rise of the Internet and social media, the decline of literacy and the closing of the mass mind, the endless doom-loop of doomscrolling and bed-rotting, increasingly performative protest, the commodification of everything, the Epstein-approved culture war, and the theatre of spectacular cruelty that is imperialist colonial policy from Gaza to Venezuela, we really are living an age where everything that was once directly participated in has passed into representation. Every hand-grip one searches for to get some kind of grasp on the world seems to be a mirage; "participation" in anything, from politics to culture, has been reduced to fandom - limited to nothing more than expressing approval or disapproval through totally mediated social media platforms. Above it all stands an utterly corrupt, irresponsible elite class more and more transparent in how it relishes in conspiratorial play, power-games with unlimited stakes for us and no consequences for them. Such a world where power wears a shit-eating grin and keeps us off our balance by endlessly[ "flooding the zone"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_the_zone) (in Steve Bannon's terms) with distractions so intricate they short-circuit the collective brain is exactly what Debord not only predicted but described in frightening detail, with more than a little bit of humour. So let's dig in and find out: just what can we do to unplug from the spectacle? Is the spectacle even un-plug-from-able? Debord haters, cope and seethe: as a much more orthodox Marxist than he ever gets credit for, there really are some strategies in here. We just need to be creative. Take care and happy reading!

**!!! NEW YEAR NEW FORMAT !!!** ***We've changed things up a bit to promote a more focused discussion around the events topic, so its worth stopping by if you haven't been in a while*** 🙌 Join Pintonomics for our 6th meetup to discuss how economics impacts our daily lives – and to see what happens when you mix monetary policy with a good pint (or sprite!) This months topic is the **Job Guarantee**, where we explore: * What is a Job Guarantee? * How will it operate? * How can it act as a counter-inflationary stabiliser? * How might it influence wages and conditions across the wider labour market? If you get the chance, check out this video introducing the policy paper for a **counter-inflationary job guarantee for the United Kingdom**: https://vimeo.com/1167469015/b4a45764ac?fl=pl&fe=vl Which was developed by MMT UK: https://mmtuk.org/ And the policy paper can be downloaded here: https://mmtuk.org/job-guarantee We'll be in the Sekforde from 6.30pm but there's no strict start time so drop by what ever time you can make it 🙌

**SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAHY AWARDS EXHIBITION PRIVATE TOUR** **We are giving away free tickets for the private tour!** **Sign up and you may win a ticket!** Please note only winners of a free place will be notified by text message on the same day. **If you haven't won a free place there is a 15% discount code below.** The world-class photography exhibition is back. Offering an insight into the artists working in the medium today, the Sony World Photography Awards bring the best images from the past year to the West and East Wings of Somerset House. This curation is a unique opportunity to see all of the winning and shortlisted images under one roof. Explore the very best of photography across a variety of styles, themes and genres: from documentary to wildlife, portraiture to architecture, sport to still life. Discover the best photographs from the past year in a diverse display of over 300 pictures * See Joel Meyerowitz’s work in a new light through an immersive, mixed-media presentation * Be part of photography's unmissable annual moment **Exhibition is open from 17 April until 4 May 2026** **DISCOUNTED TICKETS** Use the link below to go to the website for your **15% discount** off a full price ticket: [https://www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards-exhibition](https://www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards-exhibition) PROMO CODE: **LONDONPHOTO15** **HOW TO INPUT THE PROMO CODE**: Using the link above choose the day you would like to attend and click **BOOK NOW**. On the top right side of the page you'll see the **OFFER CODE** box where you can type in the promo code **LONDONPHOTO15** We look forward to seeing you there! CONTACT Alex 07956 264049 VENICE PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKEND - Oct 2026 [https://www.meetup.com/londonphotographic/events/313109100/](https://www.meetup.com/londonphotographic/events/313109100/) UPCOMING EVENTS [www.meetup.com/londonphotographic/events](http://www.meetup.com/londonphotographic/events) Photo ©Liam Mann

AI is changing how art is made. But when does it stop being your work and start being the machine’s? This month we're going to be doing a panel with with digital image, music, and written word artists, talking about at what point, while using AI in the creation process, does the work become not the artist creation? We encourage audience participation during this event that will be moderated by Chris Slee. Whether you’re deep in the field or just getting curious, come connect with others building and exploring AI in Columbus. Sponsored by [Transform Labs](https://www.transformlabs.com/services) Sign up also accessible via [Transform Labs Luma](https://luma.com/55umjqta)

Click Here For More Videos: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17vTa7EuwG/ ********************************* The Biggest Salsa Night to hit your mid-week is happening at Latin City Wednesdays. Get the feel of the Latin Beat as your hips and feet groove the right way. ********************************* Viva Dance Columbus (2809 Festival Lane Dublin, OH 43017) 830pm-930pm Cuban Salsa Lessons 930pm-Midnight Open Latin Dance Party $15 With Lesson $10 Just Open Dance ********************************** Free Parking, No Need to Bring a dance partner, No Sandals Please and Plenty of Space to Move Around.

Do you want more motivation and confidence to build Lasting Relationships? This is a free, in-person meeting on the subject of betrayals, losses and how to get over them so you can build lasting relationships. Are you burdened by a stressful relationship? Unhealthy relationships can trigger feelings of anger, despair or self-doubt. They can create dwindling spirals of fights and seeking to make-up, or trying to “pin the blame” on someone or something. If you don’t find the RIGHT reasons, or select the correct sources of the problem, the problem can just get worse and worse. Whether in love or personal ties, with friends or at work, our life really IS affected by the quality of our relationships. Good ones can promote pleasure and survival, while less optimum ones can lead to annoyance, anger, self-doubt, stress, or even affect our health and ability to survive well. Whether you are suffering from a divorce, or a painful break-up, don’t know who to trust (or who to CHOOSE) as a partner, friend, boss or employee - the anxiety of relationship troubles can really make a mess of things. Maybe you’ve suffered a betrayal, or are dealing with hostility or criticalness or invalidation. Dwindling relationships can involve destructive behavior, where we hurt those we love, or start succumbing to self-destructive thoughts, attitudes or behaviors that spiral out of control and affect much more than our immediate relationship. Past losses in love or life can affect how we act or react to new people and situations and hold us back from even starting to create new, possibly great relationships! How can one get back onto a saner course of action? Come to our Meetup, where we can introduce you to some of the knowledge, tools and techniques of the breakthroughs in the field of the mind that we can apply to this ever important area of life: human relationships! Break free from self imposed limitations Here we will discuss: • How to “erase” the trauma of past hurts and betrayals so that one isn’t always repeating past mistakes. • Why and how do the negative emotions of others affect you? • Why is my partner withdrawing and what can I do about it? • Why do we sometimes feel compelled to hurt the ones we love? • Fights & arguments - what's really behind them? • What underlies “corrosive criticism” or the need to invalidate self or others? • How one can stably change one’s outlook on life so they can affect positive change? • Where do compulsive destructive behaviors come from and what can be done about them? • How to form closer bonds & keep growing the relationships with the people you care about? • How to enhance one’s own ability to survive and create positive healthy relationships whether in love, family & friendships or in work, business or one’s career? Relationships can be hard and life itself IS challenging. Why not arm yourself with the knowledge and breakthroughs that have been made about the mind, mental reactions & interpersonal relationships, so that one has better awareness and control over themselves and life in general. Learn where painful experiences are “stored” and how they can unknowingly affect us. You will also find out how one can “erase” those past painful experiences so that one is free to move forward without being tripped up by the past. Learn too, about what can lead some people to become “toxic” personalities and how to identify those traits in others so you won’t be tripped up trusting the wrong person. Our free Meet-ups occur in a safe environment where one can learn, without fear of judgment or criticism, and without the recommendation of harmful mental techniques or therapies, just how YOU can get yourself onto a happier & more successful path: in love & in life. Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. This class is held at the Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Center.

Join us for this free, in person meeting on the subject of betrayals, losses and how to get over them so you can build lasting relationships. Do you want more motivation and confidence to build lasting relationships? Are you burdened by a stressful relationship? Unhealthy relationships can trigger feelings of anger, despair or self-doubt. They can create dwindling spirals of fights and seeking to make-up, or trying to “pin the blame” on someone or something. If you don’t find the RIGHT reasons, or select the correct sources of the problem, the problem can just get worse and worse. Whether in love or personal ties, with friends or at work, our life really IS affected by the quality of our relationships. Good ones can promote pleasure and survival, while less optimum ones can lead to annoyance, anger, self-doubt, stress, or even affect our health and ability to survive well. Whether you are suffering from a divorce, or a painful break-up, don’t know who to trust (or who to CHOOSE) as a partner, friend, boss or employee - the anxiety of relationship troubles can really make a mess of things. Maybe you’ve suffered a betrayal, or are dealing with hostility or criticalness or invalidation. Dwindling relationships can involve destructive behavior, where we hurt those we love, or start succumbing to self-destructive thoughts, attitudes or behaviors that spiral out of control and affect much more than our immediate relationship. Past losses in love or life can affect how we act or react to new people and situations and hold us back from even starting to create new, possibly great relationships! How can one get back onto a saner course of action? Come to our Meetup, where we can introduce you to some of the knowledge, tools and techniques of the breakthroughs in the field of the mind that we can apply to this ever important area of life: human relationships! Break free from self imposed limitations Here we will discuss: • How to “erase” the trauma of past hurts and betrayals so that one isn’t always repeating past mistakes. • Why and how do the negative emotions of others affect you? • Why is my partner withdrawing and what can I do about it? • Why do we sometimes feel compelled to hurt the ones we love? • Fights & arguments - what's really behind them? • What underlies “corrosive criticism” or the need to invalidate self or others? • How one can stably change one’s outlook on life so they can affect positive change? • Where do compulsive destructive behaviors come from and what can be done about them? • How to form closer bonds & keep growing the relationships with the people you care about? • How to enhance one’s own ability to survive and create positive healthy relationships whether in love, family & friendships or in work, business or one’s career? Relationships can be hard and life itself IS challenging. Why not arm yourself with the knowledge and breakthroughs that have been made about the mind, mental reactions & interpersonal relationships, so that one has better awareness and control over themselves and life in general. Learn where painful experiences are “stored” and how they can unknowingly affect us. You will also find out how one can “erase” those past painful experiences so that one is free to move forward without being tripped up by the past. Learn too, about what can lead some people to become “toxic” personalities and how to identify those traits in others so you won’t be tripped up trusting the wrong person. Our free Meet-ups occur in a safe environment where one can learn, without fear of judgment or criticism, and without the recommendation of harmful mental techniques or therapies, just how YOU can get yourself onto a happier & more successful path: in love & in life. We look forward to having you join us! This class is held at the Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Center of Central Ohio.

Some trained COUNT volunteers work together once a month at RMH (http://www.rmhc-centralohio.org/volunteer.php) as Housewarmers (usually on the 1st Sunday from 1 – 5 PM). Some schedule other shifts at their convenience. You may try this out with less fuss by following a "Fast track" or go through the normal process. Fast track • Arrange a time to shadow a COUNT volunteer. Call Dave Nohle at 614-268-9558 (cell). • Show up and try it out. • Complete application, etc. later. Normal process • Complete an online application (http://rmhc-centralohio.org/volunteer/). • Attend orientation in advance. • At orientation you will complete forms agreeing to keep family/patient info private and allowing a background check and tour the facility. • Complete one training shift. Daily shifts are: morning 9 AM - 1 PM, afternoon 1 - 5 PM and evening 5 - 9 PM. • Schedule shifts online using the on the RMH scheduling system (http://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/?FROM=32895). The Ronald McDonald House (RMH) provides housing and meals for families with sick children. The Columbus RMH is the largest in the world with 137 rooms. COUNT has been volunteering there since May 2014. Housewarmers work with RMH guests to provide a home-like environment - greet, assist with family needs, answer phones, give tours, assist with checkin/checkout, prepare guest rooms after checkout, clean facility, laundry, restock supplies and staff the front desk. RMH Housewarmers volunteer at least one four-hour shift a month. All Housewarmers must complete an application and agree to a background check before they can be full fledged volunteers.