Ilundi Vaz, Event Operations Manager at RIBA at 66 Portland Place
The events industry is known for being one of the most stressful sectors to work in and when you’re getting home from an event at midnight the stress can definitely be felt! But as cliché as it sounds, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’, effectively sums up the last few months of being on furlough for me. Spending so much time away from my team and my clients @RIBA at 66 Portland Place made me realise just how much I love my job and I can’t wait to get back to it!
I’m a firm believer in making the most of a bad situation and was determined to spend my time on furlough wisely, and use it in a positive way. No matter what industry you work in, full time employment means long hours during the week and evenings, and weekends spent dealing with life admin, maintaining our social lives, and running a household – often with little me-time in between. Being on furlough gave me the opportunity to step back, to breathe, to re-energise, enhance my skills and be more creative, most notably by enhancing my cooking skills and learning to cook new things out of my comfort zone. There are so many things I love to eat and wanted to learn how to make but just didn’t have the time to dedicate to learning these new skills. Being on furlough allowed me the time and energy to pursue this. From following chefs on Instagram to reading new recipe books cover to cover, I’ve been able to make sushi, bake bread and finally have the confidence to try out some of my favourite family recipes.
I love cooking and being able to dedicate time to enhancing my skills in this area gave me something to strive towards during furlough and gave my days some structure, but it also helped from a social point of view. To avoid feeling isolated during lockdown and furlough I went out and delivered my baked goods to friends (whilst socially distancing), and devised a competition with my partner where every weekend we’d compete to make the best sandwich!
I cannot wait for the 1st October and the resumption of events but in the meantime alongside preparations for the safe return of events at RIBA, I am perfecting my sushi and homemade bread in readiness for my colleagues’ taste test!
