Imperial students are being offered a unique opportunity to kick-start careers in the charity sector.

Charity Insights, an initiative from the College’s Careers Service, provides a bursary for students to taste life in the world of charities and not for profits.

Open to continuing students, the scheme is designed to help undergraduate and PhD students gain skills and experience working in not for profits. Lasting up to four weeks (or a part-time equivalent), the internship can take place at any point over the summer break.

As part of the scheme, students are required to find their own placement and create a proposal for a graduate level project to complete during their time there. Once accepted onto the programme students will receive a bursary of £245 per week to support them during their internship as well as ongoing training and support from the Careers Service throughout the placement.

Ben Fernando and Emily Lehtonen were two of the students who took part in the scheme last year.

Ben, a second year physics student, was already involved in fundraising with Birmingham based international development charity LUCIA when he decided to apply to the Charity Insights scheme to support a placement with the charity.

During his four weeks at LUCIA, Ben was involved in a range of areas working on plans for new projects in rural Ethiopia. “I was responsible for looking at project briefs and developing proposals and funding grants to support the charities work.” The type of work Ben was doing gave him the chance to experience a different working environment to that of the physics lab back at Imperial, “The skills I gained in developing my project proposal were ones I wouldn’t have necessarily developed studying physics. It was really interesting to experience working in such a different environment.” he said.

Library built by LUCIA

Emily is in her final year studying zoology and spent three weeks last Easter working with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) on Rathlin Island, six miles off the Northern Irish coast.

She was inspired to work at the conservation organisation after hearing about the work they do at an ecology careers conference. “I was really keen to gain some experience in the different aspects of conservation the RSPB offered. In my placement I got the chance to work with local people, RSPB members as well as working with the conservation staff themselves”, said Emily.

The Careers Service first piloted Charity Insights in 2012, with 15 students taking part. Due to its popularity and success the initiative will now take place every year.

Elspeth Farrar, Director of the Careers Service said: “We had tremendous success with last year’s Charity Insights Bursary Scheme with a number of students taking part in a variety of challenging projects with a diverse range of charities. By focusing on opportunities in the charity sector, the scheme is an excellent opportunity for students to gain new skills and experience in a different working environment. We are looking forward to seeing what kind of exciting projects our students do in this year’s scheme.”

For both Emily and Ben, their Charity Insights experience has inspired them to continue working with their charities in the future. “I would definitely recommend it, said Ben. “Working with a small charity like LUCIA I got to see first-hand how they work to engage people on a local level. You can really easily see the impact they have and the work that has been done thanks to individual support.” he added.  

For Emily the opportunity has inspired her to stay involved with the RSPB and she is planning on taking part in another placement with them this Easter. “The Charity Insights scheme allowed me to gain that insight and experience which I really enjoyed, and it’s something I’m looking forward to taking further. 

“In April I’m taking part in another placement with the RSPB at Fairburn Ings Reserve in South Yorkshire. It’s a wetlands reserve so I’m looking to experiencing a different environment to Rathlin Island and continuing to develop my conservation skills and knowledge.”

Applications for this summer’s Charity Insights programme are now open. To be eligible to apply you must be a current Imperial undergraduate or PhD student who will be continuing your studies at the College in the 2014-15 academic year. The deadline for applications to the scheme closes on 16 May at 12.00.