Category: Uncategorized

Filmings and Finales

So much to catch up on this blog, where to to begin, probably where I left off, week of 18th Sept.

When I didn’t think there could be more variety, lo and behold, there it was. After starting off the week continuing some policy work on the EU and some more video project work, I helped supervise a teacher training event the RAS was holding as part of ESERO’s “Misson X” programme. Learning about the Education & Outreach side to the society was really interesting.

I also attended a filming for a new episode of Objectivity, a youtube series focussed on antique objects, whilst also doing some behind the scenes research for it.

Finishing up

Following my last post, I’ve finished building all of the interactive fly throughs, and added the rest of the content to the website. Now all that is left to do is change the DNS configuration to point the domain at the new server. I will be explaining how to use wordpress to the church committee, and following up any questions they may have. I will be staying in contact with the church, so that I can help if there are any technical issues. I will also be explaining how to use instagram, so that they can be cool and trendy.

I’m waiting on the church of england technical proposal document, as it isn’t yet at the stage for me to add the information about WiFi and projector installations.

Going the extra mile

To say that my time at Clarity was boring and that I had nothing to do, would be a blatant lie. With the looming deadline for the release of the new product line hanging above us, we were constantly creating, constantly reformulating and improving, in order to provide Clarity’s customers with the best products. We were so busy with this work that unfortunately my project on the removal of triclosan from the hand washes was halted. However, the company saw the importance of the project that I was meant to undertake and gave me the opportunity to carry on with them for another four weeks, to focus solely on improving their antibacterial hand washes.

Macmillan Weeks 6-8

Now about halfway through my internship, my timetable and work was becoming more regular. Like previously mentioned, Macmillan offer training courses to their staff, which interns can join too if we email a week before – so I’ve been making a note of when to email to try and get a place. Luckily I managed to get a place on Writing for Macmillan, which was really interesting as it investigated the approach for how the charity writes and portrays itself to others. Similarly, I had an induction with someone from the Cancer Information Development team which I found very useful to discover how the charity utilises the information it has to make it as effective as possible.

Mid-internship here at Surfers Against Sewage

Following a long, hard but very enjoyable weekend working with the team at Boardmasters festival, I am now back in the office.

Being the chosen sponsored charity at the site gave us a huge advantage, in that artists would promote our movements, whilst videos and artwork such as a boat created from plastic bottles purely sourced from UK beach cleans were displayed at the festivals most popular locations.

I was very much involved with community engagement regarding the new campaign ‘Wasteland’, and informing the public on how to reduce their individual plastic footprint. Working closely with regional Reps from across the country gave me the opportunity to understand more about the problems they also faced with respect to marine pollution in different areas such as Scotland, Southampton and Essex; the experience has very much inspired me to become a regional Rep once the internship finishes.

Tech care of your health!

It’s no secret that the NHS has had a tricky past with technology. Just this year, we saw malicious software cripple 61 trusts across England and Scotland! However, the demands of an ageing population and the shift in the supply of healthcare professionals has meant that tech-enabled care is needed quickly to alleviate pressure from the bed blocking phenomenon.

As part of the devolution of health and social care in Greater Manchester, a Bolton locality plan set out how healthcare services would change over the next five years. This plan looks to introduce technology such as a push button, or fall sensors and alarm pendants worn around the neck, that can allow patients to safely go back to their own homes, rather than staying in hospital longer than necessary.

Drop4Drop the good times don’t stop

Three quarters of the way through my time at Drop4Drop and it’s been a great experience so far. The research has been stimulating and I’ve learnt a great deal when it comes to water delivery systems in developing countries.

To help aid in achieving some of Drop4Drop’s goals I have had to research numerous African nations to see the suitability of starting projects in these countries. It has been very interesting looking in depth into these countries discovering facts about the past events leading to the current political climate which plays a factor in projects within that country.

Alongside this I have had to make assessments of the water resources of these countries coming across certain issues such as saline intrusions.

The Last Days at the K&C Foundation

My final couple of days at the K&C Foundation has been an eventful one. Nearly 7 weeks after the Grenfell Tower fire and cheques are still coming in. What I now like to call MY cheque database is looking very hefty and it was a sad day on Thursday when I had to teach my colleague how to use it again, as I have been in charge of it for so long. A couple of very exciting donations came in this week as well- the biggest I’d seen yet! It is very shocking to have a colleague shout ‘Charlotte you have to read these numbers for me, I just can’t believe what I’m seeing.’,

Looking Forward with The K&C Foundation

My second and third weeks at the K&C Foundation have seen the office attempting to look forward from the Grenfell Tower fire and move back to normal, but with around 10 cheques still arriving daily, the fire is definitely at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

I started week two continuing to work on my ‘Big Donors’ List, which would allow the foundation to plan for the future and efficiently be able to recognise those who have been especially generous and make sure that they had been thanked. The data that the foundation receives from the different mediums of donation is often cryptic and required a certain amount of detective work to make sure that donors were thanked for the correct amounts.

My First Week with Drop4Drop

Who are Drop4Drop?

Drop4Drop are a charity with the aim of providing safe, clean water to those that need it the most in some of the poorest countries throughout the world. As a result it undertakes most of its projects in India and various countries in Eastern Africa. You can visit their website here: http://drop4drop.org/

Alongside providing clean water it is very important that these projects be as sustainable as possible to ensure the longevity of each and every project to provide a constant supply of water to each community. This means that integrating new, innovative technologies is a key part of these projects and research into these is part of what I shall be doing during my placement.