Rather than spending my day in central office, today I visited a few projects that Changing Lives run to learn a bit more about the company and to understand better the importance of the services they provide.
At 6:15am I met two employees outside Central Station for their daily outreach walk around the city centre. Maureen and Jes visited popular spots for rough sleepers to check up on people, see if there were any new people sleeping rough in the area, and to let them know about the services they offer at Ron Eager house, such as a free breakfast each morning. This walk was an eye-opening experience, especially as we encountered a young woman for whom Maureen was a case-worker, and who had been granted accommodation in one of Changing Lives' hostels just last week.
Following our walk of the city, we went to Ron Eager house to engage with service users of the day centre. I met the manager of the centre and had an informal chat with him regarding the history of the centre, and opportunities for employment and volunteering there. Whilst I was in the office chatting with Matty, a service user was found in the toilets having a seizure, owing to a suspected drugs overdose. I did not expect the outreach trip to be as difficult as it was, and it really put into perspective the work I have been doing in central office all week. If I am able to create a professional and effective Impact Report that will supplement grant applications, the charity may have a better chance at getting more income to help service users like the ones I encountered today.
After my tour of the Ron Eager day centre, I travelled to Virginia House in Elswick Dene to see what the accommodation services the charity offers is like. Virginia House houses 17 people, and is for service users who are in recovery and clean. The average stay is around 2 years, with the aim of getting all residents into independent tenancies when they are ready. At the moment, Virginia House accommodates 16 males and one female. I was able to interact with the service users here, chatting to them about their experiences and getting to know about their interests, and was even offered a tour by one of the service users, Stu. This visit was a positive end to a quite challenging day, as it exemplified what can be achieved by both the service users and the charity given the means and opportunity, and thus has strengthened my desire to succeed in my project.
The work that I have been completing at central office, and the work Rhiannon &co do every day there, feels so far removed from the frontline experiences I witnessed today. My work today has made the possibility of working in a charitable company such as Changing Lives following my graduation more appealing to me, however I do not feel I am strong enough, or have the right personality, to succeed on the frontline. A position in communications and PR, more centred in the cultural industries side of the company, would be the best way for me personally to help a charity and its service users, based on the skills I already possess etc.
I am looking forward to tomorrow, in which I will be visiting more projects, including the GAP project which works with women who have had experience in sex work. I feel the insight I am getting from my own experiences and through the stories of employees I encounter on these projects, will help me personalise the impact report I am creating and make it more impacting on any consumer of it.
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