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Working in the Charity Sector: Career Spotlight with Senior, Lucy Burrows-Smith

29 November 2021 - All

Career Spotlight: Working in the Charity Sector with Lucy Burrows-Smith

In the first Career Spotlight of the year, we were fortunate to hear from Lucy Burrows-Smith, a Wycombe Abbey Senior. She talked to pupils about her career in the charity sector and working as Volunteer Journey Manager at Raleigh International. Lucy spoke to us about the work experience that she took part in throughout and after her time at university, which provided her with many skills applicable to her future career. An important message that we all will take away from this talk.

After setting up a small family charity sending food packages to army troops and then interning at another charity, Lucy chanced upon an opportunity with Blue Dot World where she worked for two years before volunteering with Raleigh International as team leader on a water and sanitation project in Costa Rica. She described the experience as being very fulfilling, so much so that she decided to stay in Costa Rica and Nicaragua taking on various roles such as logistical manager and adventure challenge coordinator.

On return to the UK, Lucy worked in the Marketing and Recruitment Office for Raleigh International. Despite her passion for what Raleigh International does, she decided to make a change to gain a broader experience of the sector. During this time she worked as Staffing Manager with The Challenge, a charity for building a more integrated society, including organising the National Citizen Service (NCS). Eventually, she elected to return to Raleigh where she was offered the new role of Volunteer Journey Manager. In this position, she has the opportunity to, not only recruit new volunteer leaders but to also support and train them before they go abroad.

Lucy’s talk gave us a real insight into working in the charity sector. She showed how you can build up a portfolio of different jobs and work experience to develop your skills and work out what career you really want. It was really inspiring to hear her talk about how important it is to take every opportunity given to you. She also highlighted how to make opportunities happen for yourself which will help to make sure that the job you do every day is a rewarding one.

Phoebe, LVI