In the middle of June, I began my 6-week internship with at JAN Trust. With a role that was quite broad, I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I was excited to dive in and soak up any experience I could

With a fresh English Literature degree in the bag, I was ready to start exploring what the “real” adult world had in store for me. During my time at university, I had taken an interest in charity and volunteering, and working within the charity sector was something I was interested in. Therefore, I was over the moon when I was successful in securing the internship at JAN Trust.

I didn’t know much about how a charity is run, and I did not know a lot about the sector and small NGOs. During my time at JAN Trust, I have had a varied set of tasks, which has given me an insight into how the charity is run. I have helped out with social media, blogs, fundraising, liaising with stakeholders, research, and much more. Through doing these different tasks, I have gained a deeper understanding of how difficult it is to run a small NGO. One thing that particularly strikes me is the passion and drive that is needed from all the employees to keep the charity running smoothly. With a small team, workloads can get quite heavy, and it is essential that everyone does their part. Sajda, the CEO of JAN Trust, has amazed me again and again with her passion and all the hard work she does for the charity. It is inspirational to be surrounded by people who care about making a difference, and who work hard every day to do so.

Through this internship I have been able to develop my skills in terms of time management, writing skills, communication skills, creativity and much more. As I said, my tasks have been quite varied, and as such I have been able to develop and grow in different ways. I have learnt how to write official and formal letters, how to run a social media account for an organisation, and recording information. I have also had some great colleagues, who have supported me and helped me develop as an employee.

Above all, I am very happy to have had an internship where I have felt like I have truly made a difference. I have been able to do work that I know will ultimately help people, and help make our society a better place for everyone. Considering the current situation in the world, one can easily feel hopeless, apathetic and powerless in creating change. Through my internship, I have at least made a small contribution towards making the world a better place, in terms of fighting online radicalisation, violence against women and girls, and hate crime.

At JAN Trust, they work every day to ensure that vulnerable and disadvantaged women can be happy and productive members of society, and I am so pleased to have been even a small part of that.

If you are interested in working in the charity sector, I strongly urge you to consider JAN Trust as your starting point. Either as a volunteer or an intern, there is much insight to gain from working with them. I leave JAN Trust with a wealth of new experience and an even stronger wish to work in the charity sector in the future.