Red Cross Blogs

Something to chew over

By Alix Miller
October 5, 2009 at 5:10 pm

The other day I had a seriously inspiring lunch, and I’m not talking about the offerings in our canteen.

Like many people, even though I’ve been working at the Red Cross for a year, I have to confess to not really having a clue what our interns do. Up until now I had suspected they might be glorified gophers making coffee and carrying out menial admin tasks as is often the case with this type of unpaid work experience. But how little did I know.

During the event we saw slick presentations from many of this year’s 90-strong intake of interns who have been gaining valuable experience working for the organisation across the country, while of course also generously giving us their time and skills too. Our interns work on a specific project for three to five days a week for up to three months in various departments, and the ones at this session were incredibly positive about the experience.

There was Catherine, a media relations intern, who has been writing and sending press releases and helping to generate publicity for Refugee Week, for example. She talked about how rewarding it was to see which stories she had sold in to newspapers and magazines had made it into print.

Another, Katherine, has been researching vulnerability amongst groups such as the homeless, rurally isolated and disadvantaged teenagers for community based first aid training. She confessed the experience had made her realise she would like to pursue a career in the third sector.

Ruth also saw her experience as an intern in the fundraising department as a great way into charity work. She also revealed how she had gained fulfilment and friends, and made useful connections while working at the Red Cross.

The end of the recession may be in sight but with unemployment reaching a 14-year 2.47 million high , our internships and volunteer opportunities are an invaluable way for people to boost their skills, experience and even qualifications.

Tags: First aid, fundraising, interns, internships, Refugee Week, refugees, volunteer

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 5:10 pm and is filed under First aid, Fundraising and events, Health and social care, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.