Volunteering: Steff’s Story

June 1, 2021
steff holding a laptop

Steff volunteered at Hub Cymru Africa, more specifically within the Fair Trade Wales team, for almost a year as part of his year in industry from The University of Bath.

“I was keen to find a placement in the public or third sector within Wales as this is where I see myself working in the future, and it was a great opportunity to get some rewarding experience within the sector.

He chose to apply for Fair Trade Wales as he believes in their goal of creating a fairer and more sustainable world.

At Fair Trade Wales he volunteered for two days a week from June 2020 until May 2021. During that time he was given some amazing opportunities to contribute to the organisation and their ongoing projects.

Steff was heavily involved in the process of developing a new website for Fair Trade Wales. This was a great opportunity for him to see how big projects within the organisation were run, as he was involved in many planning meetings, and even had the chance to get involved in the process of interviewing website developers.

The project also allowed him to gain valuable insight into the world of Fair Trade as he undertook research that would assist the copywriting process for the new website. The other big project he was involved in was Fairtrade Fortnight 2021. He assisted with the planning and running of events, as well as live tweeting from a panel discussion.

“A key highlight for me was producing an advert in the Urdd’s ‘Bore da’ magazine to promote Fortnight”.

A big part of Steff’s work while volunteering was social media. After a couple of months he was given the responsibility of posting day-to-day social media content for Fair Trade Wales. This was a really fun experience which allowed him to see what it was like creating and posting content. He was also given the opportunity to write newsletters and use the skills he’d developed while writing social media content on a different platform.

Volunteering at Fair Trade Wales gave him the opportunity to meet a number of people from different organisations, including The Scottish Fairtrade Forum, Welsh Centre for International Affairs and HCA.

This was a great way for him to learn about the work that different organisations do, and gave him a better understanding of the third sector in Wales and the UK. For Steff, this was useful as it has given him a better idea about what he would like to do when he graduates from university.

Steff had a great time volunteering at Fair Trade Wales, he’s learnt a lot and had some great experiences.

“Thanks to the team for making me feel welcome and supporting me throughout my time. I would highly recommend volunteering with HCA, as it’s a great opportunity to get involved with some vital work and to learn some new things along the way”.

Volunteering with HCA and Fair Trade Wales is a great way to learn some new things and have some great opportunities, I would highly recommend it for any young people in Wales who are looking to get some experience in the third sector.”