Author: Nivantha Bandara

Summary of placement at the K&C Foundation

Reflecting back upon the first meeting with the Office Coordinator at the K&C Foundation, the primary objective was to raise awareness amongst small businesses in the borough. I am proud to say that I have visited and raised awareness amongst a total of 120 businesses during my time at the K&C Foundation. A total of 70 businesses provided appropriate contact details and were added to the business follow-up sheet, but not all of them were added to the database. During that same time, approximately twenty follow-up phone calls were made. I noticed that the businesses I contacted responded positively and were willing to discuss different ways in which they could get involved.

Weeks 2 and 3 at the K&C Foundation

Having gained a strong understanding of how the foundation engages with a business, I was ready to visit a significant number of small businesses in the borough and convince them of the importance of closing the gap between the rich and the poor. The main focus thus far had been towards larger, established businesses in the borough.

My networking skills proved key in convincing managers, supervisors and owners of these businesses that we weren’t just another charity in need of donations. In order to do this, I needed to demonstrate a level of confidence that they simply couldn’t ignore. One of the ways I used to describe the K&C Foundation was by calling ourselves an “umbrella charity” that helped a number of smaller, lesser known charities in the borough.

My first week at the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation

At the end of my first week at the foundation, I have come to know of the extreme contrasts that exist in the royal borough that most of us living here know very little about. The foundation is dedicated to making connections between local charities and businesses and guide them in maintaining long-term commitments.

During my first week, I was briefed about how connections are made with businesses and how information is stored on a database.  I have also learnt about what many of the charities in the borough do and how they help local citizens. It’s amazing what some some charities do in order to help people and how most people are unaware that such help exists.