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. At our visit to the British Red Cross we saw a working environment of being in a large office with a large building dedicated to the charity and hundreds of employees working on different tasks and projects. The Passage and Sense about Science showed us a more intimate office environment with a small team all working together and getting stuck in wherever help was needed. The projects also varied massively from software and IT solutions, policy and report writing, through to graphic design and communication. From speaking to all three students, they really have learnt so much in their time with their charity and have been given the time and flexibility from their supervisors to grow their existing skillset, be it doing Code Academy training or deciphering legal legislation and copyright laws.
Whilst there were differences to these internships, there were also some commonalities. All took on early responsibility, with Jay being put straight into an urgent project with a deadline of two days after his start date. Rupert was also keen to take the lead on his project and set about defining his research and initiating and setting up meetings to speak to important figures in the field. Chun-Yin has already made leaps to complete various infographics and posters on topics including Radiation and Screening; and still has a week to go in his internship! The supervisors of the internships (Andrew, Miranda and Victoria) were also hugely encouraging, passionate about what they do and really cared about their intern’s future development; not only the progress of specific projects they had been tasked with.
This summer really has been amazing so far for Charity Insights and we’ve loved hearing about your internships through your blogs. And there is still more to come; good luck to Anna and Chandrika who are starting their internships in September!