A summer volunteering for Spana

Bethany Wilkinson has spent the summer volunteering for the Communications team at SPANA’s head office in London. Find out what she’s learnt…

My summer with working animal charity SPANA truly has flown by, and I’m sad to share that my final week as a communications volunteer in London has finally approached.

Smiling brunette woman

I have spent the last seven weeks volunteering alongside the charity’s Communications team in their London office, and have been involved in a range of exciting projects and activities.

Having previously gained experienced in public relations and media agencies, I was keen to spend my summer before heading back to university gaining an insight into the world of non-profit communications.

Volunteering for a charity has been a great experience, not only because I’m working for a great cause, but because I’ve been able to see how campaigns come together from start to finish, whilst gaining some great career skills along the way.

What’s different from my previous experience is how well I have got to know the aims and objectives of the charity in comparison to when I have worked for an agency with multiple clients.

Not only this, it’s immensely rewarding to know that all the time and effort I have put into my role is in some way contributing to the improvement of welfare for working animals in the world’s poorest communities.

From writing up case studies and blog posts for the website, to using social media tools to maximise SPANA’s Twitter presence, I definitely feel my time volunteering at SPANA has prepared me for my career once I graduate.

I’ve developed my writing and editing skills, research and social media skills and even learnt some veterinary terminology along the way. But even better, the team have been exceptionally welcoming and more than happy to give me feedback on my work.

If you would like to volunteer for SPANA’s Communications team, email comms@spana.org.

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