My week at ELBA: learning, volunteering and looking ahead
My week at ELBA: learning, volunteering and looking ahead
By Henry, work experience placement
Have you ever wondered what working with ELBA for the week is like? Well, I am Henry, a 17-year-old sixth former and I was granted an amazing opportunity to join ELBA for the week.
ELBA is a charity that works with businesses across east London, Islington and beyond to help the community through donations and volunteering in areas such as education, community and business. Do any of these sectors interest you? Well, I have had the pleasure of working with them all!
Throughout my week’s work experience at ELBA, I have witnessed the brilliance of this charity’s services first-hand:
Career Carousel
My work experience week kickstarted with a visit to a Newham secondary school to observe a Careers Carousel with eight volunteers from a range of companies, alongside ELBA volunteers, talking about their career journeys to eight groups of Year 10s. I joined the students as they rotated to hear from different speakers including lawyers, charity, sales and IT professionals.
The Career Carousel experience has helped me personally by hearing about key skills, career routes and helpful tips. A key takeaway from the event was that there are many ways to meet your goals or obtain new ones when progressing your professional journey, which I will apply and share with my friends when I return to sixth form. Providing a range of opportunities to meet truly amazing people, giving both the students and I the chance to see the different routes we can take to our futures!
Donations
Have you ever wondered what the process of donations looks like before it reaches those who need it? Well, I experienced and participated in this process. Supported by ELBA’s Community Project Manager, we sorted through electronics – monitors and laptops – donated by corporate partners so that the right things can reach those who need them most.
Cross-network Team Challenge
Day two involved heading over to Bethnal Green with ELBA colleagues for a cross-network green-fingered Team Challenge with Teesdale & Hollybush Tenants & Residents Association (TRA). I volunteered alongside a range of CSR professionals and those representing other business areas, maintaining a community garden that services the residents. This day allowed me to improve my body language, conversational skills and networking, adapting to the professionals around me. My pruning and cutting skills were strengthened too!
ELBA communications
I met with ELBA’s Communications team, learning how to plan newsletters and seeing the team in action. I learned about focusing on the audience and how the team stay up to date with ELBA activities. This team has also helped me with enhancing my writing skills through constructive criticism and refinement, allowing me to progress to a whole new level of writing, which will help me with my studies. I will also be featuring this blog in my portfolio.
Seeing ELBA and companies in dialogue
I observed the Director of Partnerships in action, meeting online with a selection of corporate supporters and hearing about the different work we do together. A key thing I learned from this was how to present myself in meetings and the importance of building a relationship with those who I will work with in my future career!
Volunteering research
Day three, I met with ELBA’s Head of Research & Impact. I undertook some desk-based research on mentoring and how this relationship benefits students. I must say that it was personally very interesting – it made me consider another option I can take in university and helped me to think about speaking to my sixth form about finding a mentor!
Final day at ELBA
I was able to sit in with a member of the Employment team and an associate from another company as they ran a course for east London residents on presenting yourself in a professional environment and improving their CVs. I managed to be a part of their lesson on body language in the workplace and what I have taken away from it is invaluable and I will be applying my learning. It was also nice to meet a professional, which I related to on a personal level. Seeing how far someone just like me has come at such a young age was inspiring!
Outside of ELBA, I volunteer with a children’s mental health team, promoting their services and improving the livelihood of their centre. Through my ELBA work experience, I have now been introduced to so many different volunteering experiences and learning opportunities that I can apply to my own career and volunteering journey. I am really grateful to ELBA for this opportunity and I would like to work with them again in the future. As a young person, I would like to inspire other young people to get involved with volunteering and work experience opportunities, and encourage companies to offer work experience positions to young people as they are invaluable and just what we need!
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