My Summer Placement with Your Back Yard, 2024
Hi everyone, I’m Kathryn and this summer I undertook a 2 month summer internship with Your Back Yard. In this blog post I talk about the roles I undertook with YBY, and the impact this has had on my professional development.
Placement role
My placement was a brilliant opportunity, in which I had the chance to undertake a range of roles and responsibilities. The work I took on within the internship included:
designing and planning practical sport and fitness sessions, developing my promotional
and marketing skills; planning, recording and editing a podcast episode for the ‘Young at
Heart’ series; gaining hands-on experience working with charity bids, and obtaining
event management skills.
Regarding the practical sessions, I worked most closely with the walking netball squad,
working for an hour each week on different drills and ensuring lots of opportunity for
game play. This was such a brilliant part of the role, and it was so fulfilling to see the
sporting development of the players, and the squad coming together as a group of friends
— coaching the walking netball squad always put such a smile on my face. I also shared
the responsibility of leading the guided walking group, where we visited Golden Acre
Park, walked through Woodhouse Ridge to Meanwood farm, and took strolls down the
canal. Through leading this sociable gentle exercise I got to meet other members of Your
Back Yard and OWLS (our ‘sister charity’). This was such a wonderful activity to get
involved in, and it was such a joy to get to know the various members of our
organisation.
Additionally, I played a key role in the organisation, promotion and review of the YBY
in-person yoga sessions, and also worked to ensure that the online sports and exercise
programme was advertised before its implementation. Alongside the event management
of new upcoming sessions, I was responsible for the documentation of the organisation’s
success, and the sharing of its wide-ranging sports and exercise timetable. I worked
across all social media platforms, but also engaged in other forms of promotion, such as
flyering and community outreach. In addition, I was given full creative control over an
episode of the Young at Heart podcast, deciding on the theme and direction of the
episode, before then working alongside Tony to secure a guest for the podcast and
undertake the recording.
My Professional development
The variety of the tasks available during my internship have been invaluable for my professional development, and have given me the opportunity to hone my skills and
increase my confidence in a variety of areas and fields. Undertaking the summer
placement has given me the confidence to look for, and confidently apply to,
post-graduate roles, not only within the third sector, but within marketing &
advertisement, event management and social media promotion. The responsibility I was
able to take on within the role, and the trust that was placed with me has given me the
self-assurance in my own professional capabilities, and means that leadership roles are
something I now have no reservations in seeking out and applying for.
Working for Your Back Yard
Succeeding within my work at Your Back Yard has given me a huge sense of pride, as the
work the organisation does truly brings such joy, fun and wellness to peoples lives. It was
such a pleasure to go to work and feel truly good about what you’re making happen. I
would highly recommend undertaking a role with Your Back Yard to anyone interested,
and can’t stress how great a place it is to be employed.