Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector A vision for internships in the social sector; where every internship provides good experience, adequate support and a rigorous focus on value to the intern. Tasha Unwin with contributions from Zoe Conn, Sara Fernandez, Alice Thornton. April 2015
Contents Summary and Key Recommendations Introduction Student Hubs’ Research Conclusions Endnotes and Bibliography
04 06 08 16 22
The Author Tasha Unwin is the Network Support Manager at Student Hubs. She has coordinated the Social Impact Internship Scheme in the past and was an intern herself as a student.
To find out more visit www.studenthubs.org
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
About Student Hubs We believe students have the power and potential to shape a better world, and student leadership is at the core of everything we do. Our vision is of a world in which every student engages with social and environmental challenges during their time at university, inspiring them to become active citizens for life. Our mission is to mainstream student social action, supporting the next generation of leaders, consumers and citizens to achieve positive change now and in the future. By the end of 2014-15 we will have supported 32, 000+ students; offering them a broad spectrum of opportunities with which to engage and make a difference, whether they have volunteered all their lives or are brand new to social action. As part of that, our Social Impact Internship Scheme will match 130 students to socially impactful organisations this summer. We are not defined by a single cause, but by our purpose to support more students to discover theirs: that is why we offer such a wide range of opportunities. We support students in every way we can to enable them to achieve the social change that they believe in. We are inspiring a new generation of volunteers, social entrepreneurs, campaigners and citizens.
3
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
Introduction At Student Hubs we run the largest third sector internship scheme in the UK, which has been operating since 2008. Each year we recruit and train a pool of talented and passionate students and match them with socially impactful organisations in the cities where we work. The scheme is one of our most popular programmes and we received 530 applications for summer placements this year. However, we are aware of the challenges of running a scheme like ours, especially as the majority of organisations we place students with are not in the financial position to offer fully paid placements. As a consequence we’re committed to giving interns a meaningful, valuable experience which - while it may not remunerate them financially - should add real value to their CV and career prospects in this sector. With these challenges in mind, in January 2015 we surveyed 102 students and graduates in order to build a picture of young people’s experiences of internships in the social sector, in order to discover precisely how organisations can ensure placements that are truly valuable to interns.1 While the sector is growing as a popular careers destination among millennials, as the Leading Social Review outlined two years ago, it has yet to catch up in terms of developing and nurturing talent, and guiding young people into thriving careers.2 Internships are only a small part of that challenge; however, they are an opportunity for the sector - and for organisations committed to developing young talent - to begin to develop the sector’s future leaders. As such we must ensure that we do not lose ambitious, committed young people to bad internship experiences at the beginning of their career; and organisations offering internships need to maximise these as training opportunities to develop talent coming into the social sector. Furthermore, we cannot excuse a poor experience for those who decide to pursue a different career path; as a positive early experience can prove influential in building cause affinity among philanthropic professionals.
5
Internships have become a somewhat ubiquitous part of young people’s career paths. Government estimates suggest that around 70,000 young people will be interning in the UK at any one time, across a whole range of sectors - and the charity sector is no exception.3 There are of course concerns around internships, with much of this discussion focussing on the individual- and societywide implications of so many placements being unpaid.4 Furthermore, there are also discussions to be had around the specifics of internships in socially impactful organisations, especially as so many placements in the sector will be voluntary.5 6 These challenges are becoming especially urgent to the sector internships increase here, as well as the increasing scrutiny of internships in general.7 However, NCVO’s recent review of internships in the voluntary sector highlights how internships that are ‘effectively managed’ and ‘high quality’ can achieve value for both intern and organisation. NCVO also place much emphasis on the imperative that organisations meet the expectations of the term ‘internship’.8 In this report, Student Hubs further explores concerns around expectations; and we will outline here our findings on the reasons young people intern and factors that contribute to a valuable experience for them. Firstly, and as expected, young people seeking a career that makes a difference are concerned about unpaid internships and routes into the social impact sector. Secondly, we have also learnt much about how significant the quality of an intern’s experience is. Our research showed that young people have specific expectations of internships and are seeking tangible personal development outcomes. It is therefore crucial for placements to achieve more for these young people than a meaningless line on their CV. In this report we outline how internships should be structured to ensure placements provide development opportunities for young people which add real value to their career prospects in the social sector.9
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
7
Summary and Key Recommendations Student Hubs has undertaken this research in order to decipher the role internships play in the personal development of individuals interning in the social impact sector and to explore which factors are most important to graduates as they embark on the first steps in building a career in ‘making a difference’. In order to do so, we sought to learn more about the impacts on interns in the social sector including: the financial implications of internships, interns’ career progression, and how many continue to engage with the social impact sector after completing their placement. In order to investigate these factors, we launched a survey of young people who have interned in charities and social enterprises in the last five years. We drew results from 102 respondents, including forty-seven alumni of our own internship scheme and fifty-five responses from interns from other placements. We surveyed them on a range of topics: asking them to report on their most recent internship; what they’re doing now; whether they were satisfied with their experiences; and to gather opinions on accessibility, pay and conditions.
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
As a result of our research, we have developed a vision for internships in the social sector; where every internship provides good experience, adequate support and a rigorous focus on value to the intern we believe this vision can be achieved through the following recommendations: • Projects should be structured to offer experience and skills through challenging, impactful work over which interns can feel ownership. • Organisations should offer any opportunities they can for interns to gain insight into the sector, including how organisations work, the roles available in the sector, and career paths in social impact. • Any organisation taking on interns must invest the resources and staff time necessary to adequately support interns through detailed work plans, one-to-one management, and end of placement reviews. • Organisations taking on interns must do everything they can to ensure accessibility and fair remuneration, especially when recruiting voluntary interns.
9
Student Hubs’ research Our research revealed two key conclusions. Firstly,that quality experience is critical for a placement that is of value to interns, and that such placements are possible to deliver in the social impact sector. Secondly, young people are concerned about unpaid placements, accessibility and the challenge of gaining sufficient experience to enter a career in social impact. We shall outline here our findings on these themes.
Intern motivations ‘I hoped to gain experience in an International Development charity, to see how it operates first hand and to get a better understanding of what I most enjoyed doing/would want to pursue in the future. I wanted to meet people who worked in an Int Dev charity and hear their experiences to gain a wider understanding. I wanted to learn new, transferrable work and office skills, and make the biggest impact I could in the short time I was there.’ ‘It was virtually impossible to get a job within the International Development sector straight after university and so the internship offered an opportunity to get valuable experience.’ Through the survey we found that young people’s motivations for seeking internships roughly fitted into the following categories, with ’experience’ and ‘insight’ being far and away the top motivations:10 • 62% were motivated by gaining experience. Respondents wanted first hand experience of working in the sector to boost future applications, discuss in interviews, and as a learning opportunity. • 46% cited insight as a motivation for interning. This tended to mean insight into the sector, including how organisations are run, Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
the roles available and the practicalities of issue-driven work. They often also sought to gain an understanding of how they might fit into this space professionally. • 29% interned with the explicit aim of improving their career prospects; one hoped to work for the organisation they interned for; others were concerned about the graduate jobs market and their ability to get a foot on the ladder in the social impact sector. One had interned as a way to kick-start a career change and others had resorted to interning after struggling to find a paid job straight from university. • 22% of respondents were motivated by skills building and development. They wanted to develop specific skills or feel they’d grown their professional skill set. • 13% cited having an impact or using their time meaningfully as a motivation for interning in the sector. • 10% said that they hoped to build their professional networks through interning, making crucial connections to further their knowledge, understanding and prospects in the sector. • Finally other motivations were also mentioned by individual respondents such as: improving their CV, building confidence through interning and feeling it was expected of them. Young people ambitious for a career in social impact are, largely, looking for internships to provide more than just a line on their CV. It’s true that respondents’ motivations were, at least in part, driven by their concerns about the job market; however, they were generally interested in a range of outcomes beyond securing employment. Many reflected on internships as an opportunity to learn about their strengths and as a way to learn about roles to pursue. They were as much concerned with their longterm personal development as moving on to a job immediately afterwards. This may be because so many of the respondents were still students or had originally interned during their summer holidays before graduating, meaning the hard careers outcomes (finding a job) held far less urgency.
11
‘[My internship] taught me a huge amount about how charities operate, and I feel proud that my work was useful for [the organisation] and is still in use today. [My manager] was a fantastic manager and mentor and we still meet up regularly for a catch-up.’ ‘I learnt a lot about myself, and how to push myself most effectively.’ ‘I was integrated into a fantastic team and given experience in pretty much any area I wanted, as well as career help and guidance. I learnt so many skills that you just can’t get outside of a professional environment. It confirmed my desire to work in the charity sector, and it was instrumental in getting the job I now have.’ With this in mind, organisations seeking to ensure an effective and impactful placement for their interns should build in opportunities for them to learn about the sector as a whole; encourage them to reflect on how their interests and strengths could serve them in a career, and guide them in seeking further development opportunities. Furthermore, organisations should focus on offering a meaningful experience through the tasks and projects set for interns: here they should offer both genuine skills development and the kind of sector experience that will help interns to impress future recruiters.
Intern satisfaction Responses revealed that the majority of respondents felt they had a good experience during their internship: 86% agreed or strongly agreed that their placement fulfilled their reasons for choosing to undertake an internship; and, again, 86% agreed or strongly agreed that ‘all things considered, they are glad they interned’. Those who had a good experience generally reported one or more of the following:
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
The experiencing proving influential, rewarding and worthwhile at the time of interning. This came about when: • They took on responsibility and undertook ‘real work’ over which they felt ownership. • Their experience was tailored to their interests and skill set and the experience was valuable to a later career, as opposed to menial or administrative. • They were challenged in their role. • They felt they created an impact toward the mission of their host organisation. • They experienced a genuine introduction to the sector. ‘[My internship] gave me an insight into the sector- really friendly and helpful people working there who taught me a lot- they gave me quite a lot of responsibility which pushed and challenged me and which I enjoyed.’ ‘Interning has eased me into the working world and given me an insight in to the charity sector that perhaps jumping straight into a job would not. This is because I was supported heavily by my team and offered chances to experience any aspect of the organisation I showed an interest in.’ ‘I felt like my internship was an accelerated career development. I had a fantastic line manager who was both supportive and instructive, and lots of opportunities to work closely with CEOs and Senior Directors. However, I feel that many of these features are anomalies - in that the opportunity was slightly more than an internship (I was joining a start up at just the right time).’
13
‘Highly satisfied’ respondents often reported positively about their financial situation. Although the specifics of that situation varied: some were paid, or had received a bursary, and some had access to savings or an advantageous family situation.
They very often described how they had enjoyed the placement and reported highly positive interactions with people at the organisation. They really valued the people they met and felt valued by the organisation; they were part of a good team and were well managed.
They realised a personal benefit, either in relation to securing work very soon after their placement or through increased confidence and skills. They reported that they are more aware about issues; they had training and mentoring and the placement proved helpful to them identifying their skill set or their next step in their career. Also, unsurprisingly, securing a job as a result of their placement lead to high satisfaction.11 As respondents reported less satisfaction their answers were often more formed around careers concerns and less on factors such as having worthwhile and enjoyable experience, or accruing ‘soft’ outcomes such as networks and interpersonal skills. While pay and reimbursement most definitely factored in some dissatisfied respondents’ explanations, it was rarely as the defining factor: instead it was usually combined with a general dissatisfaction with the level of experience they gained or how valuable they felt to their host organisation. In short, dissatisfaction is far more related to what interns did than how much they were paid for it.
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
‘Although I appreciated the effort to house me, the internship was unstructured and I struggled at the end to clearly define what I had gotten out of it.’ ‘Both internships were used to receive labour at little cost for tasks the organizations and businesses needed done. Focus was on getting tasks done, not developing skills of interns.’ ‘I was disappointed by my internship and ended up leaving before time. I felt I was doing an awful lot of work for the charity for very little money and I was not really being taught anything about the way the charity operated.’ Factors that lead to a poor experience included: • The feeling that interns were treated less well than volunteers • Lack of responsibility • Lack of support or management • Lack of clarity around their role and assigned targets and goals, leading to little sense of achievement • Fewer concrete personal outcomes; for example they came away still feeling unsure of their career path and felt that they didn’t gain the practical experience they were expecting • Also if an intern expected that an internship would lead directly to employment with that organisation, and this ended up not being the case. Interestingly, one respondent did secure paid work after both their placements, but still felt dissatisfied as both were short term contracts. This indicates that the quality of a placement is critical. Furthermore, almost half of respondents felt they were fairly renumerated despite large numbers interning for expenses only (Yes - 44%, No - 34%, Not sure - 22%). This is reiterated by their views on unpaid internships in the sector; when asked whether they felt the charity sector was justified in recruited unpaid interns 42% agreed and 14% strongly agreed that the sector was justified in doing so.
15
‘It is necessary to intern in the third sector in order to secure employment. I thoroughly enjoyed both my previous internships and feel very strongly that I would not be in the position I am today without that experience and opportunity. However, it is an opportunity I was able to undertake because I received financial support from my college to work unpaid for two summers. Sadly, this opportunity is not available to many students and recent graduates.’ ‘I feel strongly conflicted about the role of unpaid internships. While on one side I have had a really positive experience, I was only able to have this because my parents were able to support me. Unpaid internships exclude a large proportion of people from having these same experiences.’ ‘I am very glad I interned but would not do the same again. I feel you should only really have to do an unpaid internship once to gain experience in the sector and secure a job.’ However, a third of those who felt they had been remunerated fairly had been paid Minimum Wage or a Living Wage.12 Furthermore, two key concerns were raised over and over, regardless of the quality of experience: pay and the challenges of entering the sector. Many respondents were aware of and sympathetic to the fact that pay is often determined by the resources of organisations, and that this is a challenge in the sector as a whole. Also, interestingly, pay was more usually brought up in the context of accessibility and relatively few made the argument of fair pay for fair work. So, while pay wasn’t the number one concern among respondents it was an issue and should be considered. We must also remain mindful of the fact that our survey only accounts for the experiences of people who have chosen and succeeded in interning; meaning it is not necessarily representative of all young people interested in the sector. Crucially, it misses out people who have made a firm decision not to intern at all and those who - either because of financial challenges, lack of opportunities, or the competitive nature of internships (we have to turn down over two thirds of applications each year for our Social Impact Internship Scheme) - do not secure internships. We were not able to pursue these perspectives but we recognise that more should be done to research this in order to truly open the sector to a diversity of talent. Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
17
Conclusions Our research leads us to conclude that meaningful experience is critically important to young people as they move towards a socially impactful career. However there is also an issue around internships and pay in the sector. Firstly, considering the experiences of both satisfied and dissatisfied interns from our own research, it was conclusive that experience is everything. A good experience can make a volunteer internship feel worth the investment and lead to fantastic outcomes for the intern. Likewise, a poor experience - where the intern does not feel they have developed skills, gained an insight into the sector or furthered their career prospects - hits harder than an unpaid one. Of course, an element of a placement’s success comes down to the individual intern’s skills and attitude; however, organisations recruiting interns can still work to ensure an effective placement by focusing on internships as a training and development opportunity as much as a means to producing work towards their organisation’s mission. Encouragingly, good placements are most definitely achievable in social impact organisations, as demonstrated by so many of the respondents to the survey reporting an excellent experience. We outline steps below for organisations to ensure such successful placements. Secondly, interns’ concerns around pay are reflected in recent reports from the Sutton Trust, InternAware and findings from Leading Social. These reports outline how unpaid internships may limit who can access placements and therefore affect diversity in the sector. Unpaid internships may also have implications for social mobility, disproportionately benefiting more privileged young people. Furthermore, young people are concerned about the high levels of experience expected of them to enter the sector. As noted earlier, we feel more can be done to investigate these issues and forward solutions to the financial barrier to interning that would work specifically in the sector, bearing in mind typical resources and the sector’s relationship with volunteerism.
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
Recommendations The following recommendations outline how organisations can structure internships as a development opportunity. We believe these steps would ensure that a placement provides good experience, adequate support and a rigorous focus on value to the intern, and are based on the findings from the survey.
Projects should be structured to offer experience and skills through challenging, impactful work over which interns can feel ownership. This can be achieved either through taking on interns to complete a specific (but appropriate13) piece of work or through assigning a collection of interesting tasks. Key things to consider are: • Setting projects that interns can complete in the time they have and for which they can take responsibility - this is crucial for ensuring interns can genuinely achieve something during their time with the organisation. • Adapting projects wherever possible to suit intern’s interests or personal learning objectives. • Offering a challenging project and, for longer placements, offer continual progression.
Organisations should offer any opportunities they can for interns to gain insight into the sector , and guide them to reflect on how they could fit into the space professionally In particular young people are keen to learn more about: how charities work; what jobs in the sector look like; career paths into making a difference; and the skills they need to develop in order to progress. Examples of how to do this could include:
19
• Finding ways for interns to meet and work with various members of the team, or partners • Offer as many learning opportunities as possible; including meeting partners, attending meetings, joining training, and mentoring • Offer any careers guidance or insight possible, including the chance to learn about team members’ career progression • At the end of placements; well structured exit interviews where both parties reflect and feedback are useful, as well as organisations making introductions on behalf of interns and using their knowledge to signpost interns on to further employment or opportunities.
Any organisation taking on interns must invest the resources and staff time necessary to adequately support interns • Organisations should spend time with the intern to set objectives and manage expectations at the start of their placement. Organisations must also be upfront about prospects following the internship • A work plan is also an essential start, allowing interns to plan their projects. This also demonstrates to interns that the work they are doing is valuable, rather than created ad hoc to keep them busy. • Ensure interns are valued and be mindful of the fact that many interns want to be sure that they achieved something for the organisation and for themselves. This can be done, to an extent, through pay; but organisations should also consider other ways to steward interns and demonstrate the value of the work they do • Interns should also be offered structured management, including well thought out inductions and regular supervision • Finally, an end of term review also allows interns to reflect on what they’ve learnt and achieved and will help them to articulate how they developed and the value they can add in future applications.
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
Organisations taking on interns must do what they can to ensure accessibility and fair remuneration, especially for volunteer interns. Interns would clearly like to be paid where organisations have the resources to do so, however organisations can also take steps to ensure fairness for voluntary interns as well; • The basic requirement should be that all reasonable expenses are covered; which should include travel to the placement. Organisations should consider covering the full cost of an intern’s commute. • Organisations should also outline early the extent to which they can cover travel and other costs so that interns can make informed decisions about the costs involved. • Organisations can do a lot by offering genuine flexibility and remote working to enable more young people to intern • Where the resources exist, more generous contributions towards travel and living expenses - including assistance with accommodation - do open up opportunities to more young people; as, of course, does paying a Living Wage.
21
The Student Hubs Approach:
The Social Impact Internship Scheme We have been running our internship scheme for six years and we are pleased to say that the experience is overwhelmingly positive for both interns and host organisations, both of whom are invited to feedback to us on their placement. Over the summer of 2014, 93% of interns who gave feedback felt they had made a valuable contribution to the organisation they interned with; 89% felt better equipped to pursue a career in the charity sector, and 86% would recommend the scheme to a friend. We also received excellent responses from the host organisations, 100% of those who gave feedback agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend the scheme and that they would take another intern through Student Hubs. We feel this strongly indicates the positive benefit of our scheme to both intern and organisation. However, it’s not without it’s own challenges and we invest in ensuring a good experience for interns and to opening up the scheme to as many students as possible. We are committed to running our scheme with a focus on accessibility and transparency, and so: • We run recruitment for over 100 organisations of different sizes. This means they can access a larger pool of potential talent, and students aren’t held back by trying to find opportunities in a sector that simply can’t invest in publicising opportunities widely. • We place students with organisations in seven different cities allowing opportunities beyond the usual London-centric offering. We also welcome e-internships and placements that can be performed remotely and limit travel as a way to offer more flexibility.
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
• We invest a lot of time and resource matching students to host organisations, according to each party’s needs and availability; but also according to the experience and skills the intern hopes to gain. We then encourage hosts to adapt projects as far as possible; to ensure the intern experience is really suited to their interests and abilities. • We provide students with training, right from the point that they are accepted on to the scheme. We also ask that host organisations offer any personal development opportunities they can to interns: this could be training, but also mentoring, the opportunity to join interesting events and meetings, and useful introductions. In turn, our Fair Internships Policy outlines the following expectations of host organisations recruiting through the scheme: • Charitable and voluntary organisations may take on interns on a voluntary basis, however this means that interns are not expected to work full time hours. These interns must also have travel and lunch expenses covered, as a minimum remuneration. • We also ask that hosts are flexible in the length of the placement and the hours undertaken so that students can find paid work alongside their placement or intern from home, where this is possible for the role • We don’t support long volunteer placements even with charitable organisations. We ask that placements longer than three months are funded, regardless of the organisation’s charitable status or annual income. • Interns should be given autonomous projects that allow them to develop professionally, and we focus on host organisations that can offer challenging and interesting placements, rather than simply administrative work. • We recommend hosts establish one person to supervise and support their intern(s). We also outline basic support that should be offered, this includes a comprehensive induction, regular supervision or check in throughout the placement, and an exit interview as the placement comes to an end.
23
Endnotes As was pointed out by one respondent, not everyone who undertakes an internship is necessarily a graduate nor fits the category ‘young person’, however we do assume that many are and this report examines how to ensure effective placements for young people making their first steps on the careers ladder
1.
Keith Mogford & Rachel Whale, ‘Routes Into and Through the Social Sector’, Leading Social, available at: http://leadingsocial.org.uk/routes-into-and-throughthe-social-sector-2/ [Accessed March 2015]
2.
The Sutton Trust, (Nov 2014), ‘Internship or Indenture?’, available at: http://www. suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Unpaid-Internships.pdf
3.
The government estimates put the number of those internships that go unpaid at 15, 000 - as above
4.
In ‘Volunteer Internships in the Voluntary Sector’, NCVO outlines that interns ‘enjoy no special or unusual legal status. Instead anyone in a role labelled as an internship will, in legal terms, still be an employee, a worker or a volunteer’ - GOV. UK, (May, 2013), ‘National minimum wage: work experiences and internships’, available at: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-work-experience-andinternships#exemptions-in-national-minimum-wage-legislation-relevant-to-workexperience [Accessed March 2015] p.7, more information available at: http://www. gov.uk/employment-status/overview
5.
For example InternAware and Unite the Union’s recent report ‘Interns in the Voluntary Sector’, available at: http://www.internaware.org/interns_in_the_vol_sec
6.
‘There is a lack of empirical evidence but the consensus is that the number of volunteer interns charities are recruiting has increased in recent years’. p.3 NCVO, (March 2015), ‘Volunteer Internships in the Voluntary Sector’, available at: http://knowhownonprofit.org/people/volunteers-and-your-organisation/ NCVOVolunteerInternshipsintheVoluntarySector.pdf
7.
8.
‘Volunteer Internships in the Voluntary Sector’, p.5
We hope the recommendations we outline on structuring and supporting internships within organisations that seek a social impact are useful for a variety of groups and organisations interested in developing young talent in social impact; as we’re fully aware that many such organisations will be voluntary organisations, but not exclusively so.
9.
10. Percentages
motivation
represent the number of respondents who mentioned each
11. As
a point of interest, respondents of the survey who have completed their studies are employed as follows: 41% are working, and have gone on to find jobs in the social impact sector ; 23% are working in an entirely different sector; 14% are working in a different sector, but in a job they relate to social impact (for example, participating in TeachFirst, working for a Housing Association, or they themselves
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector
drew a clear link to their current career); 11% are out of work and 7% are doing other things such as volunteering abroad 12. On
pay, of the respondents: 10% had received National Minimum Wage, a further 10% a Living Wage, and 9 respondents were covered through bursaries or other arrangements with their placement. However, as expected, many (56%) interned unpaid with expenses paid, although some respondents (10%) were offered no remuneration at all.
Bibliography The Sutton Trust, (Nov 2014), ‘Internship or Indenture?’, available at: http://www. suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Unpaid-Internships.pdf NCVO, (March 2015), ‘Volunteer Internships in the Voluntary Sector’, available at: http://knowhownonprofit.org/people/volunteers-and-your-organisation/NCVOVolunteerInternshipsintheVoluntarySector.pdf GOV.UK, (May, 2013), ‘National minimum wage: work experiences and internships’, available at: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-work-experience-and-internships#exemptions-in-national-minimum-wage-legislation-relevant-to-work-experience [Accessed March 2015] Intern Aware and Unite the union, (June 2014), ‘Interns in the Voluntary Sector’, available at: http://www.internaware.org/interns_in_the_vol_sec Pamela Ball & Cliff Prior, ‘Attract and Develop Leaders’, Leading Social, available at: http://leadingsocial.org.uk/attract-and-develop-leaders/ [Accessed March 2015] Keith Mogford & Rachel Whale, ‘Routes Into and Through the Social Sector’, Leading Social, available at: http://leadingsocial.org.uk/routes-into-and-through-the-social-sector-2/ [Accessed March 2015]
25
Support us Fund us
We couldn’t create the impact that we do without the support of our funders. If you’ve been inspired by this Impact Report and would like to learn more about how you can support our work through giving financially or in-kind, please get in touch with Yvonne Pearse (yvonne.pearse@studenthubs.org).
Start a Hub
We are always looking to increase our impact by partnering with more universities across the UK. If you are interested in setting up a Hub at your institution, please get in touch with Francis Wight (francis.wight@studenthubs.org). We can also offer access to tailored projects, events, training opportunities or programmes for your students. Please get in touch for more information.
Partner with us
If you are a non-profit or social enterprise, we can help you to involve more students in your work. Get in touch with Abi Taylor (abi.taylor@studenthubs.org) for full information on the publicity and outreach services that we offer. We are always looking for speakers, trainers and advisors on any aspect of social action to get involved in our initiatives. Please get in touch if you’d like to help our students to achieve more.
Host an intern
Next year, we will place 150 exceptional students in non-profit organisations as part of our Social Impact Internship Scheme. If you would like to find out more about the benefits of hosting one of these students in your organisation. To express an interest, please contact Ishita Ranjan (ishita.ranjan@studenthubs.org).
Contact us
info@studenthubs.org www.studenthubs.org 01865 264154
@studenthubs facebook.com/studenthubs
Design by Graham Read; Photos by Graham Read/Student Hubs/as labelled 27
Find out more about Student Hubs at www.studenthubs.org With many thanks to our founding partner:
and our university partners:
Crafting Meaningful Internships in the Social Impact Sector, a report by Tasha Unwin with contributions from Zoe Conn, Sara Fernandez. April 2015.
All of our work is driven by one mission: to mainstream student social action in UK universities, nurturing a new generation of global citizens, volunteers, campaigners and effective philanthropists - and we are making ever-greater strides towards making our vision a reality.