Innovation Gateway

tube on those occasions. I visited home on the weekends. I socialised with friends and family. I found

working from home to be occasionally difficult, and certainly not my preference; it could get somewhat

lonely on days that there were no meetings, although I enjoyed not having to travel far to work! This

was alleviated by visiting local cafes and working there for a period when I felt a little low. I would generally work 9-5, so as to have more time in the evening, the majority of colleagues worked 9:30-5:30.

Outside of work, I usually took an hour or so to wind down and visited friends when possible. I also

spent time with my family in London when I had the energy.

Lasting Impressions

I very much enjoyed the internship. The only downside was being at home much of the time, which

could be stifling. This was not THA's choice or preference, just bad luck with the office contracts. I went

into this internship with experience of a different aspect of the heritage sector, and my goal was to try to understand a more business, policy and commercial aspect to heritage. This was definitely achieved. I

learned a lot about how organisations work with the government to form policy objectives, as well as

what is of concern to different bodies within the sector. I already wanted to work within the heritage sector, but I didn’t really know enough about it to know where. I now know that I would enjoy a

communications role, or a policy forming role within a heritage organisation. I also have discussed going

into the civil service with some colleagues who themselves went in first and were interested in that.

BA Economics and Management, First Year Undergraduate, a mixture of in-person

and remote working

Work Projects

I was introduced to a variety of work such as

helping manage press releases, research tasks

around growing sectors, competitor analysis,

helping with operations and strategy,

marketing tasks or writing different blogs on

topics in the sustainability sector. I received a

lot of support especially from my supervisor,

who would always accommodate me if I wanted to try a new or different task, and the team

was very welcoming and interesting, very passionate about the work they were doing and

happy to talk about anything sustainability related.

I also helped with the launch of an HGVzero group as well as the closure of an EVzero action

group, which gave me great insight into movements in the sustainability sector and the space

which different organisations are occupying to come together to work and address issues

ranging from building EV charging points together, or choosing what technologies to further

explore. I also gained insight into the world of sustainability innovations, whether it was

additives to radiators to make them more effective, or the use of HVOs as fuel in vehicles.

Completing competitor analysis and helping lay out a strategy for a HEATzero action group also

gave me an idea of how change can be organised in a practical business setting.

Daily Life

Whilst I was working in person, I would enjoy getting to work at 9am, settling into a

collaborative working space, often meeting with my supervisor to organise my tasks for the day

and then get to work. This included a variety of tasks such as helping manage press releases,

research tasks around growing sectors, competitor analysis, helping with operations and

strategy, marketing tasks or writing different blogs on topics in the sustainability sector. These

tasks would vary every day depending on the

needs of the organisation - as they had quite a flat,

start-up structure and therefore needs differed

each day. I then had lunch with the team which

included another Oxford intern. I would then work

until 5:30 and cycle back to a house I was sharing

with other Oxford students.

During my remote work, I would manage my time by taking short coffee breaks between zoom

meetings or tasks in order not to spend too long expanses of time stuck on a screen, and also