Category Archives: Social Guidance and Community Work

Project Worker – Exeter Pound

business-cash-coin-concept-41301What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My role involved: general admin tasks; data collection; running a stall at  Exeter’s Respect festival;  an Exchange point audit; volunteer co-ordination, and selling advertising space.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

During my internship the person who would have been supervising me left.  This meant that I was able to fill her role, and take over the general running of the office and co-ordination of other volunteers.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Luckily I was able to cover a period of time which would have been very difficult for Exeter Pound.

Data Analyst Intern – Central South Consortium Joint Education Service

market

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I had to compile various data sources such as PLASC and NDC to create a database. This database explored the characteristics and factors impacting attainment, including number of additional movements between schools and eligibility for Free School Meals over varying periods of time. I also had to check data packs before publication.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I created a fully functional database to compare and contrast pupil characteristics with attainment, as well as exploring new impacts on pupil attainment.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I checked all the data packs which freed up team members to work on other aspects of the data packs and other tasks. My findings when exploring impacts on attainment have given the team an insight into the avenues  worth following up.

Intern – St. Paul’s Church

 church

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

Redesigning and reorganising the church website, serving in various church ministries on Sundays and through out the week, researching and purchasing new equipment and performing various office admin jobs

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Integrating myself into an office atmosphere.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Reorganising the church website to make it more user friendly and easier to maintain in future. Serving in many different ways to allow various church ministries to happen.

Research Intern – Healthwatch Cornwall

healthwatch

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My main responsibility was to create a report on Advanced Care Planning- this involved researching the options available to individuals throughout end of life care, researching the main benefits of ACP, and formulating some plans to increase ACP within the county.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement was gaining confidence in the fact I have a versatile skill set that can be applied in different scenarios and in different lines of research to achieve strong outcomes.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to help them promote internship opportunities within Healthwatch and allowed them to follow up on a previous report the published into end of life care.

Charity Volunteer – Macmillan Cancer Research

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What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I interviewed volunteers and people who are receiving support from Macmillan and then produced promotional material for Macmillan to use in order to spread awareness of the support they provide.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I really developed my communication and logistical skills. I contacted a number of different people, arranged to meet them and interviewed them all by myself.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to produce a set of leaflets which will be used by Macmillan to promote the work that they do as well as encourage more people to come and volunteer for them.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

I often needed to interview two people at once (the volunteer and receiver of care) at the same time and was sometimes difficult to find a time that suited all three of us. In order to overcome this i had to be very organised with my time.

Impact Strategist – SportInspired

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My role was to make sure that each Community Games worked to ensure that all communications with various partners: corporate clients, sports providers, schools, parents, young leaders and volunteers, were as effective as they could be. I also made sure the delivery of the Games always went above and beyond expectations. On the day of the Games themselves, I briefed the sports providers and made sure that the volunteers and young leaders were mentoring their children effectively.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

It has been an absolute pleasure to work for SportInspired. The SportInspired team are AMAZING! They are extremely hard working, passionate and well, inspiring! I routinely smashed the 35 hour minimum for the working week not because there was huge pressure on me to do so but because I really enjoyed what I was doing and where I was working. I often found myself on evenings and weekends brainstorming ideas for how to streamline the processes for each Community Games and pitching to family and friends to get their employers to sign up with SportInspired. In the first week my role was defined as: ‘making sure each of our Community Games (multi sports festival) had as much impact possible.’ This wide ranging brief gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in all things SportInspired and know that what I was working on would have a lasting impact on the processes surrounding the Community Games. Inspiring children to take up sport is extremely rewarding and the Community Games days themselves are indescribably brilliant. There is no better feeling than what we describe in the office as a ‘mini Win’ – when you turn a child’s day around and with it their perception of sport. Following on from my internship, I hope to continue to work for SportInspired. I would just like to end by thanking Exeter and the Access to Internship scheme, for yet again demonstrating why Exeter is such a fantastic University.

“Felix used a successful blend of his array of skills and talents to be a valuable member of the team throughout the internship. This has been demonstrated through high level analysis of potential client organisations, demonstrating his ability to deal with complex and high level material, through to his boundless enthusiasm with supporting kids trying sports at our multi-sports festivals. He is a classic ‘go-getter’, combining his infectious enthusiasm with an impressive ability to use his initiative, and stay committed to what he is trying to achieve” – Managing Director, SportInspired

Felix

Assisant Activity Worker – National Citizen Service

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I  lead a group of 15 young people doing the National Citizen Service project with another colleague to deliver a social action project in Exmouth to help the community.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I worked in a different country for the first time and I did not have any problem. It has increased my self-confidence a lot.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Our project was really successful and Community Action South West received a grant from the University of Exeter.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

The teenagers could not decide which project to run. My colleague and I always talked about new ideas to improve the program and tackle any problems. We set very clear rules and helped them make a mutual decision and the project was successful.

Early Intervention Team Intern – Watford Community Housing Trust

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My primary duty was ensuring that accurate information regarding the Welfare Reform Act was made available to tenants both through the charity’s website and directly through letters and emails. In addition to this, I was charged with ensuring that the payment software was running accurately and to design a system by which failed payments and inaccuracies would be automatically flagged up. In tandem with this, I made sure social housing tenants were aware of their account standing and to encourage them to seek financial assistance, both from the charity and the local council if necessary.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Networking with members of all levels of the business from the receptionist to the CEO offered a fantastic insight into the inner working of the company and addressed any preconceptions held before interning there.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Through timely delivery and completion of my main duties (listed above) I was able to reduce the work load experienced by the team in which I worked. Through doing this they were able to engage in pro-active work and tackle the issue of arrears and in so doing, prevent tenants from sliding further into debt.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

The ethical quandry of evicting social housing tenants was particularly difficult to reconcile myself with. Attending court for this process, observing dejected, desperate tenants, was emotionally taxing.

“I found Jonathan to be enthusiastic, self motivated and innovative. Jonathan worked well with the team he was in, he was popular and well liked.  I appreciate the help Jonathan gave me and the team and would welcome him back anytime.” – Income Manager, Watford Community Housing Trust