Last Friday was officially my last day at work and as a wonderful finishing touch, it coincided with the launch of the project that was just beginning as I started at the Kenyan Orphan Project earlier this summer. And so, it was with a quiet sense of satisfaction that my Student Hubs’ Social Impact Internship drew to a close.
Yet come Monday morning, I found myself thinking of my inbox, itching to sign in and see the latest progress. And so, it was with a sense of disappointment that I realised I was not off to the office once again.
Why? Well because, quite frankly, my internship has been such a rewarding and enjoyable experience that I don’t feel quite ready to say goodbye to this incredible organisation and the team just yet. And the opportunity to be part of all of this is thanks to Student Hubs’ Social Impact Internship Scheme.
Appreciative that the Hubs’ Internship Team really had tried to place me with an organisation that really matched the area of charity that I want to go into, I arrived at the Kenyan Orphan Project excited to be getting some experience in a small, development charity.
The sense of inclusion and welcome that I received from the first day were so motivating; I never felt afraid to ask if I wanted clarification on a task or needed support. I had been drawn to the Social Impact Internship scheme because I really liked the idea that I would be working on a specific project that was of meaningful value to the organisation. At KOP, I wasn’t disappointed.
Upon arrival, I was aware that I would be working on a marketing project and was excited to learn more about this field, but I wasn’t quite sure of the exact details of the task. My project turned out to be one of the most exciting ideas that I’ve heard of: marketing KOP’s new Charity Apprentice Programme.
On the first day, the name alone piqued my interest and even better, the more I learnt about the product, the more it filled me with excitement. This excitement to be part of a brilliant team, working on an exciting product that I think offers a great opportunity to people like me, who’re looking to make changing the world their day job, made every day of my internship really enjoyable.
So, what exactly is Charity Apprentice?
Well, as I quickly learnt before I took to the phone, contacting Universities the length and the breadth of the country to tell them about this exciting new programme, Charity Apprentice is an online course, giving individuals bite-sized modules on a range of topics; Social Enterprise is covered; fundraising; marketing. If it’s a major skill or potential job role in the Charity Sector, it’s in there.
This online platform gives the apprentice to go beyond both just international volunteering and fundraising, introducing them to the nitty-gritty of the Charity Sector, in a fun and engaging fashion. Having been involved in Student Hub’s Impact International Group, which aims to promote responsible volunteering and having personally engaged in many conversations on ethical volunteering, it was brilliant to see that this course deals with, in an honest yet engaging fashion, the issues of international aid and its effectiveness. It ensures students are aware of the potentially detrimental effects of wanting to good, without a greater appreciation of any potential repercussions of your actions.
So as the invites to attend University talks and Careers Fairs from across the country rolled in, my confidence in making sales phone calls increased. Having virtually built the entire marketing database from scratch, it was massively pleasing to see a blank spreadsheet transform into a wealth of information. Leaving such a resource base behind makes me feel it’s been a summer well spent, with some good skills learned along the way: from Google Drive Spreadsheets, mastering Word Press and last but not least, honing a talkative nature into a valuable career skill.
Whilst my internship may be over, I can’t help but be reminded of the words a fellow intern, from back at the start of the summer, As a volunteer with KOP for over a year, she said to me, : “You say you’re just here for the summer. But you’ll see. You’ll get hooked and then that’s it. You just keep coming back…”.
For the meantime, final year calls, but I just want to say a big thank you to Student Hubs and KOP for making a summer of work such a pleasure.