Placement and internship case studies

I decided to do a placement because I wanted to gain some valuable experience working in a new environment over summer, without having to pay travel costs and not get any money back in return.

Sheffield Volunteering website

Applying was quick and easy - I sent an email and was invited to look around and talk to the staff about when I wanted to volunteer. I would recommend this placement because it involves a very easy application process and staff are very grateful of any volunteers.

My main responsibility was assisting the students with disabilities to carry out various tasks. I usually worked in the student room, but also shadowed students in the charity shop and the cafe, working with them and ensuring that they were safe and were working productively.

At 9am, I helped students with making breakfast and drinks. From here, every day was different, and different activities were carried out throughout the day depending on what needed to be done - I either worked on sorting out items to go into the charity shop and to be washed, hung up, priced and put out to sale, helped with projects for the community such as sewing fiddle blankets for people with dementia, helped students to cook and bake or worked in the cafe with the students. At 11am, I helped to prepare fruit for the students to eat for their morning snack, and helped the students to make drinks. I usually assisted students with making lunch for 12:30. At 2pm, I also assisted the students in making drinks. I always had something to do until the day was done at 3pm.

I really enjoyed working with such motivated people with a passion for helping those who need it.

Sometimes students had difficulty in carrying out everyday tasks such as cleaning and cooking, so I had to help in a variety of ways. However, everybody was very helpful and staff were available to ask if I was unsure of things, so the placement was not daunting.

I used various social skills learned from psychology, such as empathy and prosocial behaviour.

My time on placement has made me feel confident that I could work as part of a team and with people with disabilities in future.

Do not be afraid of trying something new and working in a new environment with new people - it is all good experience!