Fundraising Events Intern Review

I enjoyed working for a worthy cause. I find that my motivations to succeed is enhanced when I can see results in a place that truly deserves it. I have enjoyed learning about the variety of roles and people at Cancer Research UK and would love to continue to work here.

On one level, I felt extremely valued when collaborating with different teams on different projects. I think a lack of engagement from the team at times made me question the impact of my work. However, since lock down - I have found staff more responsive and supportive with my projects, which has reminded me the value of my input.

My line manager has been really supportive. We have at least one catch-up a week to discuss my progress. She was able to offer me high support and high challenge when giving me feedback.

It felt very busy at times. With multiple projects, competing deadlines, it meant that I was able to build on my project management skills. Since lock down, my motivations have dropped slightly and I have found it more challenging retaining focus and so my days feel less busy. But after trying to mix up my routine, I am able to manage my workload better.

There was responsibility in terms of intern fundraising. HR checked in and gave me some great feedback. My team were less involved. I think having this responsibility was great experience in terms of leadership, finance and engagement, especially for future related roles.

The skills I have build at Cancer Research UK are fundamental for my career growth. This internship has taught me to think intuitively, communicate effectively and stay proactive and organised. These key skills are transferable to other roles. I enjoyed using the workshops and training available on Fuse, as well as the Mentor scheme to further assist my professional profile development.

The atmosphere in the office was really supportive. The hot desks and collaboration areas encouraged team work and allowed staff to mix up their routine. Staff members were really helpful and if they didn't know the answer to your questions, they would find someone or point you in the direction of someone who might be able to help This created a very positive atmosphere.

My experience was slightly different. I was offered this internship at the back of another one. I was able to communicate with HR throughout the transition, who very supportive. This did mean that my start for the second time was slightly different and on-boarding was slightly delayed, which meant I didn't get my laptop with work after 3 days, which was challenging.

There was multiple training and development opportunities through intern workshops and using the online platform Fuse. I signed up to multiple training workshops. The introduction to finance workshop was realy insightful. My team also included transactional analysis and role play activities in one of our team meetings to help us learn and develop as a team.

Future employment prospects at Cancer Research UK is very appealing. The organisation is the leading national charity, where there is so much scope and opportunity. There are a lot of employees taking secondment as well, which encourages me to explore different roles within the organisation. Given the current pandemic and OEP, finding employment here has been more challenging than I originally anticipated. During this internship, I have realised my passion for the charity sector and even though I am looking for roles in other non-profit organisations, I will still consider Cancer Research UK in the future.

The social scene started strong within the cohort. We organised multiple social events to get to know the team and help ourselves settle into new areas/roles. Within the workload become more demanding as time went on, it was more difficult organising social time. My team is home-based so there was really no social scene there.

Cost of living and social activities in London are very expensive. The internship offers a reward scheme where there is discounts to various products and activities, which is useful. The View Cafe in the office building also offers a great variety of delicious and affordable food. There is also plenty of fridge/storage space and microwaves to bring lunch in and save some money.

Stratford doesn't really have a lot of nightlife activity. There are a few bars and nice areas to eat near. For example, places like Hackney Wick had some quirky bars. The Stratford station also has some really good tube links to get to other places across London, which will have more nightlife activities.

There were plenty of opportunities that took place outside work for Cancer Research UK. For example, the P&P team host multiple high value events and need volunteers to support. There was also opportunities at networking and committee events in my team that took place outside office/office hours. The organisation also hosted activities such as after work yoga, which is a great idea.