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I volunteered at Hub Cymru Africa, more specifically within the Fair Trade Wales team, for almost a year as part of my year in industry from The University of Bath. I was keen to find a placement in the public or third sector within Wales as this is where I see myself working in the future, and this was a great opportunity to get some rewarding experience within the sector. I chose to apply for Fair Trade Wales as I believe in their goal of creating a fairer and more sustainable world.
At Fair Trade Wales I volunteered for two days a week from June 2020 until May 2021. During that time I was given some amazing opportunities to contribute to the organisation and their ongoing projects. Throughout my time I was heavily involved in the process of developing a new website for Fair Trade Wales. This was a great opportunity for me to see how big projects within the organisation were run, as I was involved in many ongoing meetings, and even had the chance to get involved in the process of interviewing website developers. The project also allowed me to gain a valuable insight into the world of Fair Trade as I undertook research that was used in the copywriting process for the new website. The other big project I was involved in was Fairtrade Fortnight 2021. I assisted with the planning and running of some events, as well as live tweeting from a panel discussion. A key highlight for me was producing a graphic to advertise Fairtrade Fortnight in the Urdd’s ‘Bore da’ magazine.
Volunteering with HCA and Fair Trade Wales is a great way to learn some new things and have some great opportunities, I would highly recommend it for any young people in Wales who are looking to get some experience in the third sector.
A big part of my work while volunteering was social media. After a couple of months I was given the responsibility of posting day-to-day social media content for Fair Trade Wales. This was a really fun experience which allowed me to see what it was like creating and posting content for the organisation. I was also given the opportunity to write newsletters for Fair Trade Wales, and use the skills I’d developed while writing social media content on a different platform.
Volunteering at Fair Trade Wales gave me the opportunity to meet a number of people from different organisations, including The Scottish Fairtrade Forum, WCIA and HCA. This was a great way for me to learn about the work that different organisations do, and gave me a better understanding of the third sector in Wales and the UK. For me, this was useful as it has given me a better idea about what I would like to do when I graduate from university.
I had a great time volunteering at Fair Trade Wales, I’ve learnt a lot and have had some great experiences. Thank you to the team for making me feel welcome and supporting me throughout my time there. I would highly recommend volunteering with HCA, it’s a great opportunity to get involved with some vital work and to learn some new things along the way.
