The People Know How Experience

A win-win situation

On a three month placement from the University of Zaragoza, Pilar and Julia came to Scotland to gain hands-on experience and enhance their job opportunities back in Spain. They contributed to numerous projects and were never afraid of getting involved! Their support in our services not only added to their CVs but also helped the Edinburgh community – a win-win situation!

Julia came to People Know How to make a contribution to the lives of young people, improve her transferrable skills, and learn from the dynamic community at People Know How. She is currently studying Infant/Nursery Education Teaching in Spain and strongly believes that education is the primary basis for positive change. During her internship her diverse background in primary education and experience in working with teenagers and adults was a large asset to her as she supported Positive Transitions.

Also interested in working with children and young people, Pilar is a Social Worker with specialisation in Mediation & Conflict Resolution. Much of her previous experience involved working with communities, young people, and individuals with mental illnesses. In Spain she implemented her own project in ‘Equality and Prevention of Sexist Behaviours’ in a local high school. On completion of this project, she decided to come to Edinburgh to continue working with young people and encourage others to think outside of the box.

We joined People Know How as interns in September 2019 and have been involved in a variety of projects in this time. This included planning and creating material for the Connect Four event, leading and supervising work experience students, and developing projects for Positive Transitions. We have also been creating awareness about children’s rights by running workshops and facilitating discussions.

Supporting children & young people

In December, we had the opportunity to go on a barge trip, as part of the All Aboard project, where S2 students prepared a clue game for us. This was followed by a visit to the Water of Leith Conservation Centre, where we learned about the animals living in the canal and water conservation efforts. We also ran activities with the S2 students; writing questionnaires and playing ‘find the animal’. The project was a great opportunity to connect with the children and experiment with different ways to help them learn new things through outdoor activities.

Innovative projects

Over the course of the internship, we worked on creating a giant Connect Four game out of recycled videotapes. Upcycling the tapes not only prevented them from ending up in landfill, but also contributed to the charity’s creative branding, presenting the game as a metaphor for the event, which focused on collaboration between the four sectors. Upcycling items which would usually go to waste is an important part of People Know How’s socially innovative ethos, and it was really exciting to be a part of this. We also had the opportunity to support the Connect Four event itself, during which we helped welcome representatives from the academic, business, public and third sectors to collaborate and share ideas. Altogether, it was a great event to be involved in.

Supporting other VIPs

Our favourite part of our internship with People Know How was having the opportunity to supervise a young placement student, Steven; helping him to grow and develop his skills.

He gave us the opportunity to learn about what it’s like to be a teenager in Scotland and we have made great memories with him. We hope that with our support and encouragement, he will make positive steps towards his future and continue to build confidence in talking to others.

Training opportunities

Finally, we had the chance to take part in a range of engaging training sessions, such as Hidden Disabilities Awareness, and Befriending and Safeguarding of Children and Young People. This was really gratifying, as we both love learning new things and will certainly use the knowledge we have gained in the future. What’s more, it’s great to keep up-to-date with developments in our field!

The future

To sum up, our experience in People Know How has been very enriching and fun. We loved the atmosphere in the office, and everyone made us feel so welcome from Day 1. After three months, we feel we have grown a lot, both personally and professionally, and although goodbyes are hard, we are excited to see what is to come!