Robert Benham Email & Phone Number

London, England, United Kingdom

London, United Kingdom

I have recently returned from Tanzania where I was an International Citizen Service (ICS) volunteer with Raleigh International. The ICS scheme is designed to promote personal development as well as giving volunteers a frontline insight into International Development. To volunteer on the scheme I successfully fundraised £800. I achieved this by proactively seeking the support of local philanthropic groups, selling possessions, being sponsored on a 10 km run and living below the poverty line for a week.Whilst in Tanzania I worked as part of a small team, made up of both UK and Tanzanian volunteers, implementing a water and sanitation project in a remote village. Due to the village’s isolation, as volunteers we were fully responsible for organising and planning our time with minimal assistance from staff at field base. Any setbacks or problems we encountered were ours to deal with. This demanded a forward-thinking and flexible approach so that project targets could be (and were) achieved. Throughout my placement I took upon myself extra responsibilities to make the most of the opportunity. In particular, I was able to develop my ability to give presentations. I volunteered to represent my team and deliver a presentation about our proposed secondary project. Speaking in front of around 80 people I succinctly summarised our proposal, helping us to secure funding to work with in the second phase of our placement. On the back of this I was selected to briefly speak at Raleigh Tanzania’s one year celebration ceremony in front of over a hundred people including several important guests. The final stage of ICS is sharing what you learnt whilst on placement with those in the UK. To begin this process I am currently organising times when I can give talks to my old University and school.

Exeter, United Kingdom

I was responsible for giving tours of the library to prospective students. This job helped me to improve my communication skills as I had to engage with a wide range of different people.I was a member of a student volunteer team nominated for the "on campus student Employee of the Year Award" for our work in the library.

Exeter, United Kingdom

In my last year at university I successfully applied to become a volunteer on the University's Welcome Team. In this role, I acted as the face of the University to new students. Throughout fresher’s week flexibility was important as the workload and type of work was varied. Each day I was placed with a different group of volunteers meaning I had to quickly adapt to working in a new team to offer whatever support was required by the freshers.I was a member of the University's Rag Comic Relief sub-committee, helping to run a comedy night. This experience taught me valuable organisational and problem solving skills.In 2012 Exeter University was a regional broadcast location for Children in Need and I volunteered as stage manager for the largest non-televised stage at the event. This responsibility has helped me be confident that I can deliver results in high pressured situations, that I can work to a timeframe and that I am able to interact and manage a large group of people. I was the events manager for the Class of 2013 Committee, fundraising for the university’s annual fund. This position demanded creativity and good planning skills in order to deliver successful fundraising events such as our 6-Nations Raffle.I was also a Student ambassador for the Humanities College for two years. In this role I gained self-confidence and valuable people skills through answering a range of challenging questions asked by a diverse range of prospective students and their parents. This experience demanded a positive and enthusiastic attitude to really sell the course. My efforts to meet the requirements of the role were recognized by the university at my graduation, when I was awarded the College of Humanities College Commendation for Contribution to the life of the Department.

Master'S Degree, Education And International Development

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), History, 2:1 (Hons)

Activities and Societies: Events Manager for the Class of 2013 Committee A Student ambassador for the Humanities College, selling.

Education record

A-Levels: Chemistry (A), Biology (A), History (A), English Literature (B) IFS- Diploma in Finance (A) GCSE- 8A*, 3A, B (including Maths.