My Work Experience - Poppy's Story

We are pleased to have been able to offer another work experience placement this past week, an opportunity we have provided for the past couple of years. Poppy joined us for a week and worked with a variety of staff members, allowing her to get a vast insight into the different roles within Age UK Norwich. Here is what Poppy had to say about her time with us:

“My name is Poppy, and I spent a week at Age UK Norwich for my work experience. I am currently in my last year of A Levels studying Sociology, Media and Health and Social Care. I am looking to go to university and study social work to then become a social worker. This work experience has taught me the different skills I will need to be someone who works closely with people. I went on home visits, to food banks and social supermarkets and saw how Age UK Norwich gets involved within the community to support people. It’s also given me the opportunity to see how a charity/organisation works, showing me the numerous roles needed and why each one is important to maximise the support people get.

On Monday I was welcomed by everyone. The office has a very pleasant atmosphere, and everyone is kind and friendly. Jo explained and went through the plan she had organised for the week, so I understood everything and felt more at ease. I was worried I would feel out of place or not have something to do but it was so well organised that I never felt this. After learning more about Age UK Norwich from Jo and other members of the team I visited a food bank with Jo (Jo Aspin). It was extremely interesting to talk to Jo and learn and watch what her role is and what she does. Jo being there allowed people to talk to her about any issues and problems they might have and are unsure of what to do. It made me realise how many people do not know what help and support is out there for them and that’s why it’s so important for people like Jo to be at places like food banks for people to learn and get the support they need.

On Tuesday I spent the entire day with Suzy on home visits. It was fascinating to see how Suzy does her job so professionally whilst also being extremely kind and compassionate. I learnt so many things such as how to move the conversation on to the next topic or question in an appropriate way. The experience also hit me harder than I expected. Before, although I thought I realised, I didn’t quite realise how hard situations can be for people. For example, reading about how someone is blind or deaf in my health and social care course at college is quite different to seeing a person who is blind or deaf in their home. It really let me empathise and connect with them. It allowed me to realise how challenging it must be for these people and how they live their life. They have such complex care needs which not just affect them but also who they live with. This gave me an even bigger driving force within me to pursue a social work career as I feel a need to work with people and get them the support, they need to improve their quality of life.

On Wednesday I visited a social supermarket with Stephen. Here I was able to learn about the different forms of support that are available for the community. Stephen and I talked with the director of the supermarket who explained the numerous organisations the director had set up to support people. I learnt how much of this is only possible with the support of volunteers. I felt in the social supermarket that there was a good atmosphere and sense of community. Elderly people could sit down and chat whilst also being able to read our Age UK leaflets to allow them to gain insight on if they needed any support as well as being able to talk to Stephen. It was an important place for people, especially elderly people, to have a place to chat with others, to prevent social isolation. In the afternoon I joined a team meeting which allowed me to gain insight into how a team works and how communication is key so that different branches of the organisation can know what each other are doing.

On Thursday I spent most of the day in the office just talking to everyone and understanding more about the different roles within Age UK Norwich. I spent time with Rio who taught me all about the different benefits people can get, how she does her job and all about the complex care team. She showed me the importance of keeping all the data about people up to date, as well as how they deal with safeguarding issues. What interested me greatly was when she told me about how people’s behaviour can sometimes be challenging and what to do in those situations. This is all relevant to the skills and things I need to know for being a social worker, so it was very helpful. I talked to Catharine who explained how she matched up the volunteers to the activities for people set up by Age UK Norwich. It was interesting as I didn’t realise the amount of work and thought that goes into this and why it’s so important to ensure everyone is happy and safe. I spoke with Paula about her role as lead for the information and advice team and she gave me a helpful overview of the different parts of the team and how they interconnect.

I also spoke with Robert who taught me all about how to frank the post and the importance of it. We also had a good conversation about fantasy football and how he had set it up for everyone. He gets prizes for the winners. I thought this was cool and a great thing to have in an office, something fun that can bring people together whilst also having a competitive side to it. I think it’s important to have things like that in an office especially in a place where the work can be quite stressful due to the type of jobs that they are. I will make sure to set up fantasy football if I work in an office!

At the end of Thursday, me and Marcela visited St Stephens café where Age UK had set up a social group for people over 50 to go to and talk with each other. Marcela and I were able to have nice conversations with these people who were keen to talk. I enjoyed the conversations I had and found it interesting talking to them. It was nice to see everyone having a good time. It was a man’s 85^th birthday so someone brought in cake, and I could see the importance of having things like this to allow old people a chance to celebrate and talk.

On my last day I talked to Maureen who taught me about how important it is to not cross boundaries when supporting people. For example, if they decide they don’t want any more help. Just like social work these jobs can be frustrating when people don’t want support. But it also comes with extreme positive sides to the job, such as seeing the change you’ve made to people’s lives and how much better the situation and their health is. I liked how everyone had something different to tell me but how it was all related. The knowledge and experience I’ve gathered I will use when I become a social worker.

Lastly, I had a meeting with Jo and Dan to review the week, I told them how useful and beneficial the week had been. I will talk about this work experience week when I get interviewed from universities. It will be a great way for me to show what experience and what I have been able to learn with Age UK Norwich. Thank you, Age UK Norwich, to everyone who was involved in my work experience and who talked and went out with me. Thank you to everyone for being kind and welcoming.”