Reflecting on my first week at the High Street Centre in Rotherham, it feels like I have already learnt and done so much. The purpose of the charity itself is to “enable, equip and establish services that make Rawmarsh a better place to live and work” and growing up in the area I have seen the positive changes to people’s lives that the charity has instigated.
The main focus of my project is to create a computer program which searches through funding opportunities and grants in the area, of which there are hundreds and determines using a variety of criteria which should be targeted. This should help the workers be more efficient and more successful when they apply for money and the time saved can be then applied elsewhere.
Having never touched coding before I started my first year in Mathematics last year, I was quite daunted about how I could actually build something that worked and that could be used by anyone. I had a few ideas in mind as to where I might start, but first I needed to figure out exactly what made a fund provider the best match. One of the first jobs on arrival therefore was to discuss with the team who both usually do the work on funding bids what sort of criteria the program would work with. After getting a few general ideas together, I was happy that I could at least start coding. As I’ve found before, once I start a project or problem I can become quite consumed and get excited about every step, so much so that I found that on several evenings last week I would still be making changes at 11pm.
As well as starting to create the program, I have helped in various different ways when needed, including an over 55 IT class and an after school club for children with special needs. I’ve enjoyed and learnt from everything I’ve done during the first week and look forward to continuing to grow and to hopefully make lasting differences throughout the rest of my internship.