Diary of an Internship at Cecily's Fund, by Kate

I am doing a week long internship (split over two weeks) at Cecily's Fund after nearly two years of fundraising for the charity from afar. I have been president of Cardiff Stop AIDS for a year and actively fundraising for them through that as one of our 5 charities. I found Cecily's Fund through a web search and found the story of charity (having been set up by the parents of Cecily, Basil and Alison Eastwood, after her death when she was working for orphans in Zambia) really showed how something wonderful can come out of something very sad. I had come back from working in an orphanage in Tanzania just a few weeks before I had starting looking at the Cecily's Fund website and I really found a lot of familiarity in the photos and stories from my own experiences. I was inspired to email in about volunteering and fundraising for them.

The Cecily's Fund team have been a fantastic support network from the fundraising I have organised since. All of the Cardiff Stop AIDS team and myself have really enjoyed our involvement with the charity (and adopting our orange t-shirts on their behalf). We have done various bits and bobs for them, including selling Red Roses at Valentines, a glo stick pub crawl, a wine and cheese night and a big music festival.

So... when I tottled in for my first day being part of their office, I was delighted to finally put a face to all the team and get to meet everyone. My day began with an brief overview of the chairity and separate projects and how it works; from trustees to staff to parters to the children who are receiving the support. This was really useful in discovering really how a small international charity like this operates. I was also provided a list of different ‘mini projects’ that I might be interested in, which will allow me an understanding of different aspects of Cecily’s Fund and how I might be able to help. These include finding a venue for the Eye-Brow pre-show drinks, on updating their facebook and twitter sites, putting together guides for fundraising (using my expertise from hours of student life procrasting on those sites...), a phone survey and looking at the media profile of the charity. As well as getting the chance to have individuals meetings with each staff member and find all about their separate jobs.

My first section of the day involved going with Sabita to meet the Rotary Club of Witney and watching her speech on Cecily’s Fund (with the hope of gaining their support). I had never met a Rotary Club of any sort so I was not sure what to expect, but delighted to get the chance to go along and find out. After a general meet and greet of the main committee at the Rotary, everyone sat down for lunch. I found everyone to be absolutely lovely and, apart from a minor blip in calling the ‘inner wheel’ the ‘inner circle’ , it went well I felt. I throughly enjoyed listening to Sabita talk and find out a little more, particularly about HIV in Zambia and the general state of politics and economy there. I think everyone was genuinely inspired by what was said and everyone seemed to be really positive about fundraising for Cecily's Fund from that point onwards. I even got to be part of the photo shoot! I felt very fortunate to get to attend something like that and learn a little more about the inner workings of the Rotary, what seemed to me a little more like a secret club. I think it should have a really great outcome for Cecily's Fund with a knock-on effect with gaining support.

After that we came back to the office and I set about making a little write-up of the session with the Rotary club for future outcomes and working on my little tasks.

A really enjoyable first day. I think working with Cecily's Fund is going to be a great experience in finding out about a small international charity but also giving me great ideas to take back to Cardiff Stop AIDS for the future.

Day Two
It is my second day in the Cecily's Fund office. Been busy working my way through my jobs...Started by looking for a place to host the 'Crazy For You' pre show-drinks for Cecily's Fund in October. I have discovered that most hotel bars around the West End tend to enjoy the purple velvet and gold style ('swanky' is the word) and one had a quite unusual take on using eyes to decorate the backs of bar stools. Anyway, I wrote some emails to some local hotels and a bar so hopefully they will get back to me asap. I started making 'how to organise...' sheets for different events that Stop AIDS have put on which was enjoyable and gave me a chance to think over plans for the next year! Hopefully we will be able to get Cecily's Fund as our charity to support for Raid Festival (our world AIDS day music and arts festival) this year, which would be lovely.

I also had a nice chat with Jemma about her role as admin-assistant and she talked me through Donor Strategy, the beast of spread sheets really, and other bits and bobs that her job involves. I found Donor Strategy really interesting to look at and it obviously has so much potential (We enjoyed looking at a 'Mr Frogface'). You can see that throughout her career here that Cecily's has just gone on to get bigger and better. I think it is nice how personal that the thankyou letters make donating here also.

Tomorrow I shall be looking into media strategy a little more (hopefully finding I've learnt something in the previous two years at Cardiff) and spending a bit longer on the Cecily facebook and twitter site.

And must I say a lovely view from the office. You can see why New Yatt was the location of choice.

Day Four
There is something about this blog that makes me want to start with a geordie 'Day Four in the Cecily's Fund Office'... clearly have been influenced by Big Brother, despite claiming never to have watched it. Anyway sorry to have missed out on a day three blog.. I was basically working over the little jobs and bits as mentioned previously, and had a chat with Anne about her role as accountant and number crunching. Also had a chat with Caroline about her role as manager and found out what she had done previously, she really inspired me to consider International service in a few years.

I am back to complete my last couple of days volunteering in the office and final attempt at cracking on with some of the projects that I have been given. I am trying to finish my 'media strategy' research, which involves searching for some interesting publications to gain media attention on a national level, as well as getting into corporate magazines...accountancy etc. With the breadth of things that Cecily's Fund do, there are certainly lots of different angles for articles and different publications that could offer editorial content. I hope this can be useful for the team at a later date as I think it could be great publicity.

Other bits and bobs I have got done...Finally booked the pre-show drinks venue for the 'Crazy For You' preshow drinks, which will be at the Courthouse Hotel. See updates on the website for more info on that.

Had a nice chat with Helen about her role as fundraising officer, which was really interesting. Going to start working on some mail outs for her with the London Marathon and Crazy For You show. More tomorrow for my last day at Cecily's Fund.


Last Day and Final Reflections
It is sadly my final day in the Cecily's Fund office and so I thought I should make a final blog. I have really enjoyed my time in the office in little New Yatt, working alongside the very lovely team and learning all about how a small international charity operates. I will have a lot to take away from my experience, but am positive I will continue to fundraise for Cecily's Fund and get Stop AIDS as a national body more and more involved with the charity.

Today I did a mailout with Helen for the London and Brighton Marathon and have continued with the projects that I was given at the start of the internship...media strategy, 'how to..' guides and web updates.

I hope that I will get the chance to work for a similar charity, like Cecily's Fund, after I graduate as this is what I am really passionate about. I really think my time here will help me, definately something great for the CV. I recommend other students (and non-students) to come volunteer in the office for a short time at least, a long time even better! Or just generally get up and fundraise for the charity! In Cardiff we have had such fun doing so and will continue to in the future.

All the best to Cecily's Fund. Thanks very much for letting me come visit.