Zaira has a student placement at Launchpad – recently joining the team of staff and volunteers at the charity
What brought you to Launchpad?
I am currently taking a degree in Psychology at the University of Reading; I heard about Launchpad from my Careers Advisor when discussing placement roles that I would gain more first-hand experience working with members as I was unsure of the way I would like to build my career in the future.
What have you been doing in your first few months?
My first few months have been enjoyable and very interesting, as I’ve been learning a lot while also taking part and running various activities with the members. I enjoy that my role is very active, and I get to experience both administrative work and more interactive work with the members. It has allowed me to gain experience with both sides of working with the members.
My role is to plan and run both the socials and Life Skills socials at the Work and Life Skills Centre while also helping around the centre whenever it is needed. I try plan various socials revolving around different Life Skills and help facilitate the discussions during the sessions (e.g. Fire Safety, Food Hygiene and other crafting sessions like woodworking and painting)
What have you enjoyed most about being here and what are you looking forward to?
I have enjoyed the variety of work I have been doing; from baking cakes on my first day to more specialised learning centred around homelessness (e.g., Safeguarding Adults training and Drug Awareness training). As well as meeting the staff and volunteers.
I have also enjoyed receiving training; recently I was able to take part in a manual handling course & a food safety course and I was previously shown how to navigate through Inform and OCC. I am also looking forward to taking on more responsibility; by helping with welcome meetings, progression meetings and general case holding in the future.
What field of work would you like to go into after your degree?
In all honesty I’m not too sure, currently I have enjoyed all the various opportunities I have had and am also enjoyed getting to know the different teams of Launchpad during my ‘Get to know’ sessions. In the future I would like to continue to work within sector and use the experiences I am gaining now to help get a job.
How do you relax and what do you do in your spare time?
I enjoy taking walks with my dog, walking round the woods helps me clear my head and I also really enjoy watching tv shows and movies when I have time. In my spare time I like to draw, read fantasy books, and recently I’ve been trying to practice applying henna designs onto actual people rather than just templates.
You can read about more of our staff and volunteers here.