As a fundraising assistant for a lifesaving children's charity, I am out in the community spreading the word about our work and how people can support us. I do this by attending networking events, fundraising days/events, community days, attending bucket collections, assigning tins to venues, conducting social media promotion posts and giving general assistance to all volunteers. As well as this, I help my fellow executives with general duties which they need a helping hand with such as event planning, emails/phone calls out, social posts and research. I work effectively, quickly and creatively to lighten their workload and maximise their fundraising efforts.I am busy looking for venues, people and businesses to support our charity across the country and meeting our supporters is just one of the many perks of this rewarding job. I love knowing that what I do helps to make a real difference and keep hope alive for both patients and their families.

I have worked as a shop floor assistant for Asda since 2016 - originally being part-time, but eventually as seasonal to make time for my educational commitments throughout. The role originally involved handling the 'health and beauty' sector, but overtime I branched out into the general grocery department as well as promotional displays/price changes and home shopping (nights). Typical tasks included stock replenishment, assisting customers, tidying the shop and making sure all shop standards was met accordingly. I believe that this role significantly grew my confidence in customer service, as well as my time keeping and organisational skills. Working in big teams, ensuring health and safety standards were exceptional and being there for emergencies was also common on most shifts.I have grown from a shy fifteen-year-old girl taking my GCSEs, through to my A-levels, to finishing my degree and this workplace has continuously supported me throughout with my self development.

In 2018, I joined Cranes Customisation; a laser engraving service specialising in wooden gifts, chopping boards and personalised pieces. I suggested a branding update and led the design process until the team finalised the finishing product. I then began exploring with their social media marketing and attracting customers locally. The business opened on 'Etsy' and after one year passed over 500 sales, with some arriving all the way in Australia. I took and uploaded high quality product photographs, improved their product tags and created more specific product descriptions helping drive consistent five star reviews. After success with 'Etsy', I built the business a website entirely from scratch despite no knowledge of website building. I was determined to deliver a slick, functioning website to increase their sales and reach, and successfully launched it after two months of research and progress. During Christmas 2019, I attended multiple Christmas market events at Milton Hall and Markham Grange. This included 5-6AM starts, setting up in icy cold conditions and selling products.I was the prime sign painter for customised pieces, in which I used acrylic paint and spent hours perfecting tiny details such as the shine on a tomato or the hair strands of a dog. I managed to pack a lot of hands-on experience during this voluntary position, and believe it has allowed me to expand my creative thinking, customer service skills and independent learning.

During 2014, I joined Housey Stuff as a shop worker and social media assistant. I developed their social media presence and reach through the use of social media marketing and video marketing. I would film, edit and publish seasonal tours around the shop, as well as virtual shopping videos during the peak of Covid 2020. One video achieved over 4.5k views, helping push their presence and online purchases. When working inside of the shop, my duties included:*Opening and closing the store, ensuring all lights, music and candles was lit for the perfect customer experience*Sourcing exciting new stock online and registering the shop with suppliers*Assisting and serving customers *General tidying and re-shuffling of stock*Brainstorming fun promotional social media campaign ideas*Re-vamping the shop window displays

During the peak of Covid in 2020, alongside working as a keyworker at Asda I was inspired to create my own Etsy business seling hand painted plaques. These plaques was made from upcycled scrap wood donated by 'Cranes Customisation', allowing for a wonderful piece of art to be generated through wood that would of been thrown. This business not only supplemented my wage, but taught me valuable business skills such as calculating stock costs, balancing work loads and time management. It also gave me the opportunity to create my own branding, which I really enjoyed. I can still remember the satisfaction I felt after hearing the little 'ding' notification that someone had bought MY product!After a year, I decided to close Cherry Creates, to focus on my third year at university as life began to resume as normal.