Month: July 2015

Why Water? And Comms at CDP

In this blog I thought would write a bit more about the background of why I came to choose the CDP water team for my Charity Insights internship and how CDP communicates its work, as I think this is one of the most vital elements to its output and an area I imagine a lot of people could be interested in working in.

So first off, why do I think water is so important?

This year, the World Economic Forum listed water crises as the biggest Global Risk in terms of impact, based on a survey of nearly 900 global leaders in business, academia, and government.

Asha: Final Thoughts

After four weeks of effort and hard work, I have finally reached the end of my internship with Asha. In this final week, I finished my project report – 6 research papers, full of 100s of statistics and images all summarised in 10 pages. My report highlights the severity and importance of youth unemployment and the need for skills development programs in India. I am currently waiting for feedback from the project leader to make any final changes required before I end my involvement with this project for Asha.

The report forms part of a bigger set of papers that will be presented to various organisations – Asha’s project partners – to ensure that Asha gets the help and recognition required to make an even bigger impact than at present.

Week 2 with Samaritans

My second week at Samaritans has been largely populated with reading and organisation.

I’ve received some responses to the survey I designed last week, which is promising, and hope to get some more soon. The branch at Hereford is fairly small, so I don’t anticipate a huge amount of responses. However the volunteers who have contacted me seem very keen, so we’ll see!

In my briefing for the volunteers I also asked if they would be interested in taking part in some interviews, which would be either face to face or over the phone. Thankfully the response to this has been rather positive, and I have a few lined up for the following week.

Asha: Project Review

It has been a long and productive week, having had no less than 3 review meetings! By the end of last week, I had read through 5-6 key papers in the fields of youth unemployment and skills development challenges facing India. My task for the rest of the internship is to condense that information into a succinct 10 page report – no mean feat considering I have read more than 200 pages of interesting, useful and relevant information in addition to all the statistics collected. I am making good progress on the report and am on track to finish it by the end of the week.

First week at Rathbone

As my first week working with Rathbone comes to a close, I’ve found a few minutes to blog about some of the things I’ve done and would like to share with you.

My first day at Rathbone was spent getting acquainted with staff, facilities and the projects I’ll be completing over the course of my placement. I soon felt at ease and part of the team: the charity has only four full-time staff working at the Old Library site, who were all extremely welcoming and helpful, taking time to explain what their roles in the organisation entail and the many services offered by Rathbone.

Part 3 (at the CAT)

My time being based at the Collegiate Academy Trust is now over. The resources I have created will hopefully assist lessons and revising students for years to come!

The resources I have created cover some of the trickier areas of geography, such as rivers, exam questions and volcanism, topics that even the most talented geographer can find testing at times! Working with these areas created an extra challenge, not only to create the resources in the first place, but make them as interesting and enjoyable as possible.

As you can see I’m only on part 3, so, what’s to come in the final chapter?

Week 1 at Samaritans

As my first week draws to a close, I’m beginning to feel a little more confident with my project’s structure and its aims.

Following discussions with my supervisor and sending off the relevant documentation (I don’t know what I expected, but the ethics form was a bit of a nightmare!), I have designed and posted my questionnaire. It is my hope that this will give me a better idea of what encourages a person to volunteer with Samaritans.

I have also attended a volunteer information evening to meet some potential listening volunteers and make them aware of my project. Thankfully they were very welcoming and seemed eager to be involved.

Fourth and final week at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability

My final week at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability (RHN) has revealed that inevitably I’m not the only person examining the possibilities for improved seating design. From car seats to desk chairs to wheelchairs, the message is always the same; using new technologies future seats can and need to be better designed around the human body. There’s an asterisk on the end of that phrase though: the sheer amount of variation doesn’t make this an easy task. To this end a great deal of time this week has been spent reading through academic papers examining different aspects or users of all sorts of chairs, and obtaining the many papers referenced in each.

Part 2 (at the CAT)

Spending time on the other side of a school is something I cannot recommend enough. As strange as it may sound, I have begun to appreciate that teachers and staff are human – sounds like an obvious statement but up until the age of 9 I assumed they lived in their classrooms! Not only are they human, but some of the most hard working and dedicated people.

I digress. The resources I have produced are now seeping into lessons. My regenerated school rock collection, along with factsheets, has been used in several science lessons with great feedback – supporting students (and staff) who lack complete understanding and appreciation of rocks.

An Introduction to Lambeth Elfrida Rathbone Society

With less than a day left to start my placement with Lambeth Elfrida Rathbone Society, I thought it would be a good time for me to introduce the charity, the work they do and outline the projects I’ll be involved with. The organisation, based in West Norwood and locally known as just “Rathbone”, provides social, educational, and welfare services for young people with a learning disability and/or from disadvantaged backgrounds in and around the borough of Lambeth. Whilst the bulk of their activity encompasses outreach services – the provision of residential care and supported living – I will be working with their Youth branch, which coordinates group activities for young people aged 11-19 at the Old Library site, pictured below, as well as residential trips off-site.