Samuel joined us at Hope into Action in July 2024 to complete his work experience. In this post, he recounts how the experience went for him and what sort of responsibilities he was given and what he learnt during his time at Hope into Action. 

"Hope into Action is a charity that is “enabling churches to house the homeless”, and was my choice for my work experience location, due to it being a good cause, and the different perspective on the idea of a business. During my visit, I learned lots, got a good idea of what would be asked of me in a real job, helped by everyone being helpful and welcoming."

"Throughout my visit to Hope into Action, I had many jobs and tasks to really give me a proper idea about what goes on at the charity, but also at charities and businesses in general. There is so much more going on behind the scenes than most people expect and there can be whole teams of people doing work for businesses that get no recognition at all: Finance teams, Human resources, Supporter relations and Advertising, and that’s just naming a few. They all play such fundamental roles, especially in a charity, as they are never trying to make a profit, so deficits must be reduced as much as possible so it can keep running."

"I thoroughly enjoyed my stay, and while it was fun, it was very tiring and difficult, trying to keep up with all that is accomplished every day. On the first day I: helped clean out a tenant house, visited a new house they were planning on purchasing, helped tidy the stationary cupboard, and spoke to various employees around the workplace about what they do. Although there are very different tasks, they all play an important role for the upkeep of the organization."

"On my second day, I had many more talks with employees around the office, including the CEO, went to a trustee meeting and was given 2 personal jobs: the first being storing old files in the archive, the second being sorting out an issue with the ethernet. The latter was the task I was most invested in due to my interest in computer science and love for technology, which is likely why I was set it, my employer taking my skills and interests into consideration."

A big thanks to Samuel for his help during his week of work experience and for completing each task to the best of his ability. We are so pleased you enjoyed your week with us and got to experience working on some tasks you have a real passion for, for being able to showcase what the charity does and the work we are doing to house people experiencing homelessness and support them to rebuild their lives and we are so glad you got to learn new things!

We wish Samuel the best of luck in all he does in the future! 

If you would like to enquire about work experience or voluntary opportunities at Hope into Action UK, please do complete our online form here