Around Town

‘I was in a meeting one day and everyone was sitting there picking the legs off their fried spiders,’ says Louise Mackeson-Sandbach, 32. And although she’s terrified of spiders, the experience was, in a way, a dream come true. The meeting was with the Fisheries Department of the government of Cambodia, the spiders are a local delicacy, and Louise was there as a VSO volunteer, contributing the management consultancy skills she had acquired during ten years of employment at the city business specialists Accenture. ‘It was an absolutely fantastic experience,’ she says. ‘So rewarding, and the chance to take my business skills and apply them in a developing-country context was such a great thing to do, both from the personal and professional side.’ She was so inspired, in fact, that when she came home and reclaimed her old job at Accenture, she decided to move into the firm’s not-for-profit arm and work with NGOs to support overseas development. So what started out as an altruistic sabbatical turned into a canny career move, too.
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VSO is one of the exhibitors at this weekend’s ‘One Life Live’ event at Olympia, and they’re keen to get the message across that volunteers no longer have to commit to two full years in another country, but can do as little as two months if that is all the time off they can manage.

Like the rest of the event’s participants, they’re selling the compelling idea that it’s not only desirable but totally possible to throw off the shackles of the rat race and transform your life into something closer to your dreams, whether that means becoming an organic farmer in Bulgaria, retraining for a new profession, or simply busting out of your desk-cage to go travelling.

‘I genuinely believe that if you don’t want to go into work, you shouldn’t be going – you should be doing something you’re enjoying,’ says Rebecca Weir, another ‘One Life Live’ case study, this time proffered by the KLC School of Design. ‘I got my degree in philosophy, did a postgraduate course in environmental information technology just to hang out as a student for a bit longer, then went to work in the City as headhunter, specialising in banking and IT. I was very successful, loved it, earned lots of money – but I was always searching for a creative outlet. So I quit my job, went travelling for a year and then went back to school. It was something I always said I was going to do in a way – earn enough money, tick the boxes for the parents, buy the flat, have everything set up just as it should be, and then throw it all away and start again.’In Rebecca’s case, a certificate in interior design led to a realisation that lighting design was her true calling, and she now runs LightIQ, a successful business turning over £1million a year and employing ten people including her brother and her mum. ‘Everyone who works for me is doing what they love, and that’s important,’ she says.

With lectures and seminars this weekend boasting titles such as ‘Have Your Cake and Eat It’ and ‘Gulp! And Get Going’, the line-up does sound a bit like a self-help manual come to life – and it’s true that many of the speakers have self-help books to sell. But the event is more than a three-day pep-talk – the emphasis is on practical strategies rather than self-empowerment mumbo jumbo. There are 150 seminars to choose from, including ‘Make Your Break Pay’ by Lonely Planet author Charlotte Hindle, ‘Your Ethical Business’ with Paul Allen, talks on opportunities in Canada and New Zealand, a guide to the American visa system and – for those who want to make a new life out of helping people to make new lives – ‘How To Become A Life Coach’. There’s even a workshop called ‘Make The Most of Your Visit to One Life Live – A One Life Live Event’, so there’s no excuse to go home uninspired.

If it all seems a bit un-English, this gung-ho, kick-in-the-pants stuff, perhaps it’s worth putting the sneer on hold and considering whether you too could be happier doing something different. Louise and Rebecca would certainly say so. ‘Just do it,’ is Rebecca’s advice. ‘Or you’re never going to know. Just jump into the deep end – what’s the worst thing that can happen? Life can be short , you might not be around next year for any number of reasons so live for today and enjoy it – do something that’s going to inspire you and lift you and challenge you.’

‘One Life Live’,Olympia, Hammersmith Rd, W14 (0870 272 0001/www.onelifelive.co.uk) Kensington Olympia tube/rail or 9, 10, 27, 28, 47, 391 bus. Fri 1-7pm, Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10am-5pm. £15, (in adv £12, seniors £13 (£10), under-16s free.