We are now mid-way through our annual period of Community Action Placements, hosted by organisations known to, and funded by, The Rank Foundation.
Our School Leadership Award Holders are required to do two Community Action Placements (CAP), learning how charities work, volunteering their time to get stuck in and hands-on with their programmes. Every year, The Rank Foundation organise between 30 and 40 placements with charities and organisations who are members of RankNet. Some placements are residential and some are commutable, and for two weeks the Leadership Award Holders gain experience in the Third Sector.
Max
Ykids
“I have had non-stop fun throughout the entire time I’ve been in Bootle and the whole experience has been truly unforgettable. I’m honoured to have been able to act as part of such an amazing team of youth workers who have allowed me to develop my leadership qualities and contribute towards making a difference to the lives of a group of amazing young people. The variety of opportunities I was able to help out with was incredible. I experienced bee-keeping for the first time, helped decorate the community garden ready for a competition and even ended up putting my carpentry skills to the test by building props for a jungle themed holiday club for which I was part of the team that ran the programme. I truly couldn’t have wisher for a better time on my community action placement.”
Tasia
Khulisa
“I went into this placement with an open mind and no specific expectations, as I had not heard of Khulisa before and was excited to see what they entailed. Regardless of my limited knowledge on the charity I wanted to utilise this placement opportunity to nurture my leadership skills.
My time at Khulisa was amazing, there was always something to do; a way for me to contribute, meaning I never found myself bored. Every member of the charity’s team was welcoming and it was clear that they believed in the work they were doing in order to help overlooked groups in society. I found myself participating in taster sessions, writing articles for their newsletter and watching spontaneous live TV interviews of the charity’s CEO. I am appreciative of this experience and will certainly keep in contact with Khulisa as it is an exceptional charity, with equally integral people behind it.”
Bharath
PEEK (Possibilities for Each and Every Kid)
“My two week placement at PEEK has been an extremely enjoyable one. The children at each school for my placement are very kind, enthusiastic and brilliant and I am very grateful to PEEK for the opportunity they have given me to work with so many incredible people from a wide spectrum and to learn about different cultures and backgrounds. The staff have been amazing; they are welcoming, friendly and very passionate about their work. Each day has been wonderful, there is always something new and the children are so eager to get involved. A highlight for me would be the day that I went on a trip with a primary school to Glasgow Green as every single individual was just having a blast, every parent and child were having the time of their life. Even people that were not with PEEK were getting involved with all the activities. It was the most energetic and vibrant day for me.”
Jesse
Maundy Relief
“Observing people and giving advice to clients about benefits has helped to open my eyes as to how difficult it is for those who need to claim benefits to be able to figure out which ones are best for them and then how to apply for those benefits. I also attended training on Universal Credit which showed me how complex the system actually is. The second piece of training that I undertook was some first aid training which was very useful as it is transferable to any workplace. In addition to shadowing people and giving advice I also did some volunteering in the drop in which included preparing food parcels for those in need, preparing and serving a hot meal to people who wouldn’t be able to access it, as well as working behind the desk which included taking phone calls and assessing clients for food parcels and taking details for future appointments.”