Words from Elena:
I have had a great year working in Paths for All. It has been wonderful gaining experience working within a charity that operates in the spheres of health, physical activity, environment, community, active and sustainable transport, and it has great national influence. During my year, I have been lucky to gain an incredibly wide variety of work experience, from reviewing grant applications and reports, visiting funded community projects, and representing Paths for All at conferences and events to producing podcasts, success story videos and articles and carrying out data validation work for national pedestrian counters. A couple of highlights for me include interviewing health walk participants on a health walk for a podcast, running a nature connectedness campaign and competition for young people, and helping with events such as the Expert Lecture, the Murray Royal Hospital Gardens launch event, and the Macrosty Park dementia friendly environment award event. I have also recently been helping to coordinate an organisation-wide evaluation and outcomes project which will hopefully help the organisation tell a more concise, collective and impactful story of the difference they are making.
Throughout my time working in Paths for All I have learnt many valuable skills and lessons. I have experienced working in teams, managing projects, communicating with stakeholders and partners, and working on partnership projects. I have learned a lot about running and managing a project, both from reading project plans, applications and reviews for grant-funded projects and from managing and working on projects in Paths for All. I have learned many communication skills and the importance of effective communication and partnership and connected working. I have also learned creative and technical skills in data analysis, social media, writing, producing podcasts using Audacity and Auphonics, and producing videos. This experience has given me lots of great opportunities and taught me many valuable things that I will take forward into the rest of my career.
Words from Sophie:
The past year working at Paths for All has been really eye-opening. I have loved seeing the full picture of what a charity does and how Paths for All makes an impact within this sector. From the structure of this traineeship, I’ve gotten to work on multiple teams, which has enabled me to understand the scope of Paths for All’s work from several angles. It’s been an absolute pleasure working here, not just because I have learned so much from this position, but because the people I’ve worked with have truly made this experience so enjoyable.
During my time on the Policy team, I learned many important skills that I will be carrying forward for the next phase of my career. While there, I contributed to policy consultations, wrote briefings for MSPs and compiled recommendations for website development. I undertook a work experience at a public affairs agency, where I was able to compile a database of information for Paths for All. I also got to be part of workshops and conferences, and even help liaise with a French organisation as well. Working on the policy team allowed me to contribute my own expertise from my MSc in Global Health Policy and learn how to contextualise that within the Scottish political landscape.
While I enjoyed working on the Policy team, my time working on the Movement for Health team has been particularly exciting. I’ve gotten many opportunities to make a real impact with the coalition and beyond. By conducting an intensive mapping report of the coalition, I’ve gotten to delve deeper into the physical activity programmes the network is contributing to within the preventative medicine landscape. From this report, I learned about the successes and challenges facing charities in the coalition and offered insights into where to grow from here. These findings have been shared with Public Health Scotland, advocating for the third sector while establishing the barriers the sector faces. Beyond this report, I’ve gotten to be part of workshops for Movement for Health and help organise an upcoming conference. Through this position, I’ve gotten to exercise skills in leadership, project management, organisation, and refine my communication skills as well. I’ve collaborated with a brilliant digital graphics team, The Ideas Club, and gotten to feel part of a solid team working to make a difference in this sector.
More than the work I’ve gotten to do and the experience I’ve gained from this position, working with the staff here has been particularly lovely. I have had an excellent time working with all of my line managers and really appreciate them as mentors and colleagues. They’ve made this past year extremely rewarding. On the whole, Paths for All has helped me gain a real confidence working within this field, and I really value the opportunity I’ve been given to start out my career in such a fulfilling role.
Graham McQueen, Manager of the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Programme, said:
It's been a real pleasure having Sophie and Elena work with us over this past year. Their skills, knowledge and enthusiasm have really benefitted us as a charity and we hope that the placement we have provided for them has given them a good grounding in the sector from which to grow their career.
“Bright Green Business, who manage the placements on our behalf, have also been excellent to work with and we are really looking forward to getting the 2024/25 trainees recruited in the next month or so.
With huge thanks to Elena and Sophie for their valuable input during their time with us at Paths for All!