Summer Placements at EUK – How Student Volunteers Benefit the Charity
If you could describe the last few months in one word, what would it be?
Unprecedented, difficult, adaptable?
I think we can all agree that this summer has been nothing short of strange. With people, businesses, and society having to rethink what ‘normality’ is, adapting to the ever-changing climate is something we have all had to do. Whether you have been affected personally or professionally, one thing we have identified as having a positive impact on this unique situation is cooperation.
Traditionally, cooperation means working together towards a common goal. As a charity, we have been fortunate enough to have our amazing team work together to achieve our mission during these uncertain times. EmployabilityUK aims to help young people ‘stand out from the crowd,’ by providing informative resources that aid in confidence, communication, and teamwork.
We understand that for young people, these times are exceptionally challenging. The idea of landing your dream job is tricky enough, without the worries of companies operating on stricter budgets, and candidates being in the midst of an extremely competitive job market.
With this in mind, we knew we needed to rethink the way we operated to best support young people. During the peak of the pandemic, we were lucky enough to have a handful of student volunteers join our team. Employability is at the heart of the charity, and we love that our volunteering roles are mutually beneficial – with our students gaining experience, and us gaining creative and determined team members! Our new volunteers operate in our Business Development Team and Marketing Communications Team, bringing a new perspective to different projects, and a breath of fresh air to the charity. Their input within these teams has been incredibly beneficial, especially regarding communication with our student audience.
Our volunteers understand how valuable their work has been to us, especially over the past few months. But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what a couple of our student volunteers have to say about their experience with EmployabilityUK so far:
“During my time volunteering for EUK, I have had the opportunity to contribute to a number of projects and see the real-life effects of my work. As a volunteer, you are treated as a valued member of the team and, both independently and as a team, to work on projects that interest you. During my few months with EmployabilityUK, I have conducted customer research, internal research, helped to develop a marketing strategy and contributed to implementing a social media strategy including the promotion of the charity’s virtual workshops. Through these projects, I have been able to see the positive impact on students and even speakers on the amazing virtual workshops, and have already started to see the increased activity and engagement due to the promotional materials and social media posting.” – Katherine Hall.
“I began volunteering with EUK in July and, since then, I have worked on numerous projects that have not only aided in my personal development but have also added value to the charity. I have managed a project, written multiple articles (including the one you are reading right now!) and I have been a part of a social media team that is helping the charity connect to their student audience. Seeing how my work has contributed to the charity is something I have valued a lot. It is one thing gaining work experience, but it is another to know that every piece of work you produce is genuinely going to be used. I have found this incredibly valuable. It shows that every volunteer has a purpose and makes you feel like you have always been a part of the team.” – Lydia Ruston.
Although these times have been both unprecedented and difficult, we have adapted to them incredibly well thanks to the hard work of our volunteers – something we are immensely proud of here at EmployabilityUK.
