STRiVE: My route to employment
by George Upfield I should warn you, my route to employment is quite a long and convoluted story, so get comfy! I suppose the first time I realised where I wanted to work was not long after I started volunteering with Guide Dogs at their Regional Centre in Leamington Spa. I was 16. I sensed there was a real ‘family atmosphere’ throughout the organisation. And in addition to this, I knew that I’d need a guide dog to help me navigate when I left school for university. Somehow, I felt that I wanted to return the favour in [...]
STRiVE: How volunteering gives back to everyone
by Sonal Sumaria Hi everyone, hope you’ve all had a lovely summer. Did you all get up to anything exciting? I’ve done a fair bit of travelling, both independently and with my family! Are there any fellow Potterheads out there? I would love to share my magical summer adventures with you, but I think that’s for another article. Today, I wanted to talk about volunteering. It is certainly something I really enjoy. Instead of receiving payment, I’m happy knowing that I’ve made a difference to someone’s life. And that means a lot to me. My volunteering journey started [...]
STRiVE: My internship with VICTA
by Harriet Smith I decided to apply for the VICTA Young Ambassador programme in 2019 because I wanted to have the opportunity to further develop my writing skills and increase my confidence in working within a team. I also wanted to meet new people and improve my employment prospects. For my secondary education I attended New College Worcester (a boarding school for visually impaired people), then went on to study Creative Writing at the University of Gloucestershire where I gained a 2.1 degree. One of the main projects during the programme was to work on and design an [...]
Volunteering as a key for long-term success
Written by Idil Serce The transition from higher education to employment can be a difficult and emotional roller coaster for all new graduates, but especially for visually impaired (VI) graduates who are in a more disadvantaged situation in comparison to their fellow peers. Being VI myself, I know how difficult it is for VI students to focus on their studies and gain work experience whilst fighting with the physical and emotional challenges of living with a VI. As a recent VI graduate, l will share my personal experience of transitioning into the world of employment and the impact that [...]