From Civil Service to Not-For-Profit: My Experience at InCommon | Article
When joining the Fast Stream’s Project Delivery Scheme, I always knew I had to do a 6-month secondment. Once it came to choosing the type, I felt very drawn to going to the charity sector. I knew that I wanted to be working on something I found meaningful but in a different setting to the Civil Service.
I was really excited when I found out my secondment was at InCommon - it seemed to be the perfect fit! InCommon is a small charity working to bring generations together. They run sessions with local younger and older people with the aim of creating more connected, inclusive and age-friendly communities.
I had an amazing first week at InCommon. I was warmly welcomed into the team – we even started the first day with pastries and coffee to get to know everyone! Everything was extremely well organised, with the first week being full of sessions to learn more about the team and the work. I also had the opportunity to meet some of the older and younger people we work with.
Working for a small charity was very different to the civil service - there were only eight people in the team (including me and another new Fast Streamer). One of the main differences was in organisational decision-making - the whole team had input over nearly all strategic and operational decisions, which was very interesting as you got exposure to most of the work going on in the organisation, even if it wasn’t part of the scope of your role.
During this secondment, I have been project manager on a digital project funded by UK Research and Development. The project involves creating and testing an online platform with new users across England to enable more intergenerational activities in communities. It is extremely exciting, as the legacy of this project will have a massive impact on the scaling of the great work that the charity does to a much wider reach of people. I feel like I’ve been able to make a real impact by drawing on a lot of experiences I’ve had from previous Project Delivery postings, as well as qualifications I had studied.
One of the main activities InCommon does is organise visits from schools to local retirement homes, and as part of my role, I helped facilitate these. I also got the opportunity to lead one, and trust me, being able to chair a room of ages ranging from 8-80 is a real skill! These sessions allowed me to see the first-hand impact of the work of the charity but also meant the opportunity to get out of the office and mix up the working week, which I found really refreshing.
This placement also gave me the opportunity to experience a different work environment. With the charity being a small organisation, they didn’t have their own office building and instead had a room in a super modern shared working space - they even had sparkling water taps! This meant being surrounded by many other small start-ups and organisations from a wide range of sectors. We also could shake it up and work from other locations across London.
If you get the opportunity to go on a secondment with a charity, I would 100% say go for it! If you’re placed with a small charity, the impact you have and the experience you will bring is tremendous - you can make a real difference. It also opens your eyes to areas you would never think about. I knew nothing about the intergenerational space, and now I truly am an advocate and will continue my relationship with InCommon for years to come!