Volunteer internships at Diabetes UK

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i'm interested ! i will go and check it all out ....
 
I really wish I could afford to do something like that. I would absolutely love it - I'd love to work in the charity side of things and how amazing would that look on your CV? Argh, I hate money!
 
shiv said:
I really wish I could afford to do something like that. I would absolutely love it - I'd love to work in the charity side of things and how amazing would that look on your CV? Argh, I hate money!
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It does also bring me back to what I said before - why are so many based in London, surely the worst place in the country to recruit people and not pay them anything? I'm not being anti-London, just would have thought it unnecessary. An office, maybe, but headquarters? Not just DUK, of course.
 
as posted on the fb duk page as alot of people like you shiv would love to but can afford to ...
' im interested ..made redundant 18 months ago from architecture im intelligent experienced and diabetic T2 ... no work/future for my skills in architecture ..always been pretty volatile profession ...overqualified for other work ....cant get JSA as my partner works need to do something to improve my situation and improve DUK service to its service users ...'
if they pay my travel and lunch money i could do it part time
 
I suspect it may be something do to with being close to the 'seat of power'. Charities spend a lot of time lobbying politicians, liaising with government departments and drumming up sponsorship from blue chip companies. Like it or not, that's where the decision makers in those organisations are based, and it makes commercial sense to be close to them.

I have absolutely no idea how young people starting out on their careers manage in London, particularly in the charitable sector. They deserve a round of applause for being prepared to do what they do and for foregoing the financial rewards of careers elsewhere.
 
Cliff said:
I suspect it may be something do to with being close to the 'seat of power'. Charities spend a lot of time lobbying politicians, liaising with government departments and drumming up sponsorship from blue chip companies. Like it or not, that's where the decision makers in those organisations are based, and it makes commercial sense to be close to them.

I have absolutely no idea how young people starting out on their careers manage in London, particularly in the charitable sector. They deserve a round of applause for being prepared to do what they do and for foregoing the financial rewards of careers elsewhere.
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I can understand the need for an office, but surely much of the infrastructure of the organisation could be based elsewhere? Maybe I'm being very naive, I'll admit I know nothing about the ins and outs!

Totally agree with your last statement Cliff! I can only imagine the only young people who can do it are living with their parents, or have some means of subsidising the costs, but I too applaud anyone prepared to give their time to helping others 🙂 Having said that, it seems the present government wants to persuade us all to become volunteers - nice idea Dave and Nick, but I suspect that there are an awful lot of people who would volunteer, but can't afford to, either financially or time-wise.

I was interested to see some comments on the DUK Facebook page for this item - some people calling it 'slavery' and being really stupid and nasty! Makes you realise how nice, polite and friendly people are here! 🙂
 
Yes I agree the comments left on FB were quite unnecessary - DUK aren't forcing people to do it afterall!

I could probably manage it financially if I planned to stay living at my parents for the next few months, but being as I plan to hopefully move out at some point, it just isn't going to happen. If they offered it say one day a week with costs covered then I would definitely think about it, but I can't afford to give up 3 - 5 days a week.
 
Not all national charities have HQs in London eg YHA, which serves England & Wales, moved HQ from St Albans, Hertfordshire to Matlock, Derbyshire several years ago.

The whole area of unpaid internships doesn't just apply to charities - it's common in many other fields eg media, broadcasting etc. In many cases, the only way people can afford to do it is by interning through the day and working eg in pubs / restaurants at evenings & weekends.

Another thing to consider is that it's usually cheaper to rent a room, eg in a family house, than in a shared house. I've lodged with people, sometimes weekly, sometimes full-time, and both my parents and my partner and I have had many lodgers over the years, rates dependent on their income, lenght of stay, willingness to look after animals when we're away etc.
 
Copepod said:
Another thing to consider is that it's usually cheaper to rent a room, eg in a family house, than in a shared house. I've lodged with people, sometimes weekly, sometimes full-time, and both my parents and my partner and I have had many lodgers over the years, rates dependent on their income, lenght of stay, willingness to look after animals when we're away etc.
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I've been looking at doing this for when I go to uni - I'm hardly a party animal, so for me living with a family or the like would suit me just fine.
 
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