Month: August 2014

Infrastructure and I: Part 3 – Best Friends Forever

As promised, before I share with you all the exciting turns of events that have happened on the field of infrastructure, I will tell you a little about the technicalities of my Charity Insights story. So please, do stay a while and listen.

It all started when I was more or less scrambling for something to do for the summer after my first year. Many freshers seem unbothered about how their first summer in university is spent, but I felt like more new experiences could be amassed by working rather than chilling in Summer. Too bad many (read: nigh all) businesses look for penultimate year students for their internships, as I am sure many of you are painfully aware.

Twentieth Day

With less than 2.5 hours to go, the finale to my 20 days of intense interning at Sense About Science is rapidly approaching. It’s been a delight working with such a smart and passionate group of change-makers, and it’ll be a sad moment when the clock hits 16:00 and it’s time for me to leave.

Here’s a review of what I’ve spent my time at Sense About Science doing, and a bunch of cryptic images to go with them:

Making sense of screening resource challenging me to explain the concept of screening, and its pro’s and con’s, with less than 200 words and a handful of whimsical diagrams.

Week 3 at the British Red Cross in Portsmouth

Ok, week 3 – What have we done?

I have finished writing up my report and have gone through and extended my points as Rachel had asked me to. I have checked all the spelling, grammar, punctuation and stats- so I think we are good to go! Phrasing of points is also key and parapharsing, though useful, can sometimes alter dramatically how well recieved the information is. It is funny how one word can totally change how people take things and since the report makes suggestions, this is important to consider.

I have a date set in my last week to allow me to feedback to the People and Learning team. 

Final Tuesday

After having a long weekend with the bank holiday Monday it is weird that I am entering my final week. My internship will officially end next Monday accounting for the Bank Holiday.

My first ‘Closure’ project has come to an end after three weeks of working in the Admin team at Barnardo’s. I didn’t manage to get through the entire cabinet of documents, as I strongly overestimated the rate at which I was able to carry out the processes. So I have created an organised systematic process which will allow my colleagues to continue on with my project once my internship has come to an end.

Fifteenth Day

Time flies, and this week has honestly been the most busy week at Sense About Science to-date. Lots of things wrapping up and being reviewed, and lots of things to start.

Due to a lack of time I haven’t had the time to draw up a full blog post, or get some items reviewed for posting. In the meantime, though, do check out my first Ask For Evidence effort where I enquired for evidence behind Calamari Gold squid oil capsules: http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/a4e_examples_of_evidence_hunting.html#

First week at CABI!

Today completes my first week at CABI. I knew CABI was a bit outside London, but the walk from the train station in Egham this week has been a welcome surprise. The forested areas around CABI are fantastic and make for such a pleasant walk to work. I got lost in the forest on Thursday and ended up going further than the public path I was meant to take; I was a bit late for work, but the sights, sounds, and pleasantness of the woods reminded me why I have no love affair with living in London.

On to the work!

Week 4 at RECLAIM

It is my last day at RECLAIM! I have had a great four weeks here. As the charity is so small everyone is really close and have made me feel very welcome. I will be sad to leave!

During my last week I have conducted two interviews with two 14 year olds from the Moss Side and Gorton projects. They were very thoughtful and helpful and glad to be involved in my work. I have used this information as a case study for my evaluation for RECLAIM. I have finished writing up my report, hopefully this will highlight the good work RECLAIM is doing with young people and also identify ways in which the projects can be improved.

Internship Visits and Cupcakes

Amy and I have been out on the road again since our last tour of Hampstead Heath, Vauxhall and the West End. This time we took in the sights of Moorgate, Victoria and trendy Clerkenwell with one mission in mind; to see how three more Charity Insights internships were progressing! Okay, with one minor detour for cupcakes at Bea’s of Bloomsbury…

We got to catch up with Jay, Rupert and Chun-Yin interning at the British Red Cross, The Passage and Sense about Science respectively. What stood out about these visits was the variety that working in the charity sector can offer.

Week four/five: the end

It’s hard to believe that my time at St. Anne’s is over – four weeks has flown by! Over the past week (alongside my usual screening programme) I’ve been involved in several events with St. Anne’s, such as helping to run their service user drop-in session yesterday. It was a chance for people to make suggestions or raise concerns about the services on offer at St. Anne’s, as well as to sample the Krispy Kreme doughnuts on offer! I really enjoyed getting involved with the service users and hearing their opinions on the services they use everyday, and it really highlighted to me how important St.

Week 2 at the British Red Cross in Portsmouth

Hi Everyone!

So it has been a busy and productive week here! Last Friday after I wote my Blog post I went over our huge, very detailed spreadsheet  with the other intern, also called Chloe! ( As you can imagine this is quite funny and creates a touch of confusion!) We came up with lists of errors in the data collection and searched the data again for evidence for my report.

I have been typing up drafts of my report  this week and have shown it to my Line Manager Rachel who has given me feedback after my first attempt, which has been really helpful.