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Lauren's volunteering story

Lauren shares her experience of doing a work placement with Lymphoma Action.

Lauren

As part of my Event Management degree at the University of Chester, I had the opportunity to do a work placement with Lymphoma Action. However, due to the pandemic this 5 week placement had to be conducted entirely online. Nevertheless, doing my placement this way did not stop me from benefiting from this experience. 

When I started the placement, I wanted to be able to gain an understanding of events in the third sector and to learn and develop any skills that I could. I also wanted learn more about lymphoma, as starting this placement I knew very little about the disease.

Within the first week, I had completed a induction programme. I found out so much about lymphoma, the work Lymphoma Action do and the way their work helps the people they support. All of this was very interesting to me and the opportunity to meet various members of staff from across the organisation helped to increase my knowledge further. 

I talked to Karen about the Facebook support group and observed an online support group which opened my eyes to the way that the charity supports people affected by lymphoma. Speaking to Nika and Sophie about events helped me see a side of events I had not experienced before. Far from the academic side of events that I've been learning about in my degree, this experience helped me to understand the reality of working in events far better.

Throughout the placement, I have been set tasks to help develop my skills. Creating a bank of social media posts to promote volunteering, doing research projects, and thinking of ways the charity could grow their social media reach, especially among people my age. 

These tasks have given me the experience and skills that will help my employability in future. The staff have always had my best interests in mind, helped me to get the most I could from my placement and made me feel extremely welcome. 

Now my experience has come to an end, I am proud to say I have helped spread awareness of lymphoma and have increased my own awareness of it too. I would highly recommend a placement with Lymphoma Action to anyone who wants to enhance their skillset. Not only am I leaving with more confidence in myself, but I am leaving with the rewarding feeling that my work will benefit others in need.