Hi everyone, my name is Diya Nadeem and I have been interning alongside Maggie, for the past five months. I am an undergraduate student at King’s College London studying Politics, and got involved with working for Eastside through the King’s Civic Leadership Programme.
Before I began the placement, I was not sure what to expect. I entered the placement expecting to receive small tasks which no one else wanted to work on! However, this was not the case at all. The team trusted us with leading and contributing to major tasks, which we greatly appreciated.
Over the course of my placement, I have been working on numerous tasks; such as the formatting of this years’ Spoken Word Power anthology manuscript, planning the launch party for the anthology, presenting fundraising ideas to the Eastside trustees and team, and initiating a brand ambassador scheme. I was extremely grateful that Eastside provided me with the freedom to work independently, yet also provided me with any support I required.
Compiling and formatting the plethora of poems submitted by students, for Spoken Word Power was a long and heart-warming experience. After having seen the students perform their Spoken Word Power entries at a West End theatre, which they had been working on for a couple of months, compiling this manuscript was a fulfilling experience.
Working alongside Maggie, we brainstormed a number of ideas to create an easy and sustainable way of fundraising. This proved to be slightly challenging and made us appreciate the hard work the Eastside team had previously put into formulating fundraising ideas! We presented our ideas to the Eastside team and trustees at the Away Day, which provided us with useful feedback. The experience of presenting to a number of individuals who are much more experienced in this field seemed daunting at first (!), but everyone was extremely supportive and helpful.
One of our ideas was to make use of the increased number of young teachers on social media platforms with large followings, in order to promote our free programmes. I set up a brief framework of this Brand Ambassador Influencer Scheme in order to ensure a sustainable means of attracting and initiating influencers to join the team, even after I have left the team. I worked alongside Kate, Eastside’s amazing marketing & communications coordinator, to reach out to a number of influencers, with follower numbers ranging from 100k to 1.6 million, to work with us to create a larger social media presence for Eastside.
After completing this placement, I have expanded my knowledge and learnt a number of useful skills, such as editing and copywriting, drafting agreements for individuals and corporates, fundraising, presenting and event planning. Moreover, this placement has given me the confidence to believe in myself and my ideas. I believe these skills are extremely transferable, which will benefit me no matter what my future holds.
From the very beginning of my placement, I have experienced a welcoming environment alongside supportive colleagues. The work we have been assigned has been meaningful and contributed greatly to the team as a whole. Eastside has provided me with skills and experiences I will forever be grateful for. I would like to thank the whole team for supporting us and providing a friendly face in times of need! I hope to continue my relationship with Eastside, in any manner possible, as it has now become an integral part of shaping my future.