My Week at YM by Konze.A
Before my placement, I had never come across a charity like this. Their vision spoke to me, especially as a 15 year old who has felt that for years young voices have been performatively "heard". Only, to be left in the dust below thousands of voices meeting the same fate.
On my first day, I voyaged to the high-risk St James’ Tower, a building I had only seen in television shows. On Monday I met with Liv and we discussed my goals for the week ahead. We set three goals focused on increasing my confidence in public speaking, seeking out new opportunities to enrich myself and challenging myself.
Following a short-introduction to the team, I began to research the work of Young Manchester. The ambassador programme was particularly interesting, it was lovely to see how Young Manchester sought to engage young people across Manchester and how heavily it was influenced by the young voices of Manchester.
On Tuesday, I met with the CO-CEO Samuel for a chat about his vision for a better Manchester. In this interview I picked up on the idea of collaboration as opposed to replication. In this interview Samuel emphasised the importance to "collaborate not collude". Samuel’s vision of Young Manchester is for it to be an intercessor between organisations which would open the doors for growth instead of competition which would be best for the youth in Manchester. After my interview, I sat down to review the social media channels of Young Manchester which I found to be trendy and eye-catching with displays of amazing opportunities for people to partake in. I ended my day with a reflection on the amazing work being done and how the overall vision of Young Manchester, although ambitious, is attainable to them, as they have a strong team who put their all into their work.
On Wednesday, I met Hasaan who was extremely welcoming. During the day, I got to shadow a few meetings. One was a meeting between Hasaan and Olivia, in which I saw the importance of communication. For them, communication helps them assess their strengths and weaknesses so they can allocate who will do each job and assist each other in their roles. I also shadowed an #iWill meeting in which I had to introduce myself to a range of other charities across the United Kingdom. Towards the end of the day, I had the joy of finally meeting Imogen, the CO-CEO.
For me Thursday was a busy day, I had the chance to sit down and chat with Hasaan about his experience of being a project coordinator. From the meeting, I picked up that his greatest aspiration would be acknowledgment of the value young voices can bring, which has been rooted in his past experiences working with smaller charities and larger organisations. After such an insightful chat, I had the privilege to act as a project assistant for the filming of a video for Young Manchester’s social media. This was an enjoyable experience for me as I got a peak behind the scenes, I was able to visit dressing rooms, and even see lines being rehearsed.
Friday was my last day with team YM, as part of my experience I have used this blogpost to document my reflections on my short but amazing team at YM.
My time at Young Manchester has been an incredible and memorable one, I am incredibly appreciative of the team and Liv for providing me with such interesting tasks and providing such a warm welcome. My experience has been marked by growth as I met all 3 of my goals that I began the week with. I now looking forward to joining the Young Manchester as an ambassador which I feel will further develop my skills and provide me with a supportive environment. After this experience, I am most definitely interested in working for charities in the future.
