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My name’s Rebecca and I’m currently interning as a Communications and Events Officer at COCO! I had always really liked the idea of working in the charity sector because it seemed to combine creativity and social justice, and when the opportunity came up at COCO I was excited to find out if this was true.
So far the experience has been brilliant- everyone’s so friendly, and because it’s a small team, work is varied and stays interesting. Chiefly my role is to use the donor database and assist our lovely Fundraising Manager Kievah, though in the past seven weeks this has expanded to involve community fundraising, finances, and event planning.
As it can take a while to learn the ropes at a new job, Kievah made sure that we were gradually introduced to tasks so we didn’t feel overwhelmed, and that has meant I am really comfortable with what I’m doing now. In the first few weeks I learnt how to operate the database on Iris, and send group emails with MailChimp, as well as other administrative tasks like distributing fundraising packs. I attended my first event- the annual Golf Day with Steve Cram, which made me appreciate how much energy and planning goes into ensuring guests have a brilliant time. There was a brief painful moment where I had to go on stage to model some merchandise without warning and felt a bit like I was dying, but overall it was a great night and Slaley Hall was a beautiful venue.
What has surprised me most at COCO is that after being talked through some financial procedures by our Finance Manager Diane, I got the hang of it and now operate the donations we receive through Just Giving. Other highlights include working with several volunteers to develop a social media strategy in response to a report produced by the Newcastle University Business School, and most hilariously, receiving a call from Tom Campbell at Heart Radio North East, and realising we were on air!
At the moment I’m focusing on some independent projects; developing a COCO Alumni scheme, as well as planning an event to honour our volunteers, and organising Christmas card sales. I also gave some suggestions to Brad on ways to keep improving the way we work with universities, and it’s been great to contribute what I’ve learnt from my experience in societies.
Having just graduated, it’s amazing to already be working in a role I enjoy this much, and I am definitely set on staying in this sector after my placement finishes.