First day-Work experience

My first impressions of a charity that was building a childrens hospice that is costing five million pounds was that there would be lots of people involved in making it happen.To my surprise, I found a team of just three, with modest offices all working busily. Emma is the over all manager within the region which is from Plymouth through Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
When I arrived, I met her and immediately liked her as she offered me a cup of tea. She began to tell me the basic history of the charity; that it was founded by Eddie and Jill as there own two children were life limited, meaning they would never reach adulthood. My knowledge of childhood cancer and genetic diseases is quite slim, however I was surprised to learn that there are 1,200 life limited children in the region and that the closest children's hospice is Helen's House in Oxford. Emma went on to explain that after losing his sons, Eddie felt compelled to help other children and their families which is how the charity began in 1991.
 I met the other two staff members, Ella the press officer and Mary the community fundriaser. I didnt really understand the difference between their three seperate roles and exactly what they did. However, after the morning with Emma she explained that her role is focused upon gaining corporate donations which also help to improve their CSR. She also targets very wealthy individuals with personalised communication so that they feel compelled to make a donation also.
After my conversation with Emma, she showed me some of the events that they have organised for the charity, I saw photos and learnt about some of the families that used the facilities of the hospices that are already open, Little Bridge House and Charlton Farm.
After Lunch, I spent the afternoon with Mary and Ella. They both ran through what their roles included. I learnt how Mary's role as a community fundraiser involves meeting many different types of people and actively engaging with the public. She has establish friend groups which range from just a few members to many in larger towns across cornwall that host meetings and events to raise money to donate to the Precious Lives Appeal. One of the largest is the Falmouth group which as raised a quarter of a million pounds for Children's Hospice South West since it began supporting the charity over ten years ago.

At the end of my first day, I felt slightly over loaded with infornation but I also understood a brief history of how and why the charity was founded and what it wanted to achieve with a basic understanding of the communications differing roles.