Name: Cameron Merry
Job Title: Head of Individual Giving
Pathways Programme: Pathways to Charity and Development 2025
Organisation Summary: Exeter Leukaemia Fund (ELF) is Devon’s blood cancer charity, providing support to patients and families across the county. Established in 1980, ELF provides a range of services to patients and also supports the haematology team at the RDUH NHS Trust. They are the only dedicated blood cancer charity in Devon, and support between 300 and 400 patients and families each year. They are entirely funded by voluntary donations and gifts in Wills.
We are a team of 9 staff and have a group of volunteers supporting our work and helping us to deliver some of our services. We have a head office just outside Exeter, as well as an office in the RD&E Hospital. We are a friendly, inclusive organisation and work closely together with each other and our colleagues in the NHS to ensure patients and families get the support they need, from diagnosis, to treatment and beyond.
How did hosting an intern via the Professional Pathways programme benefit you and your organisation?
Hosting an intern helped us to create a number of different awareness raising materials that we can use during blood cancer awareness month.
The first was a flyer that will raise awareness of blood cancer and it’s symptoms and raise awareness of the services we offer to support patients and families on their blood cancer journey.
The second was to create a variety of different social media posts, mainly for Instagram and Facebook, that raised awareness of blood cancer and raised awareness of our services and the work we do.
Our intern, Bronwyn, also attended the River Run event and cheered on and supported our runners who were participating in the event. During this event she also created a video that we were able to share on social media.
Going forwards we can use the materials created and tailor the message to our different audiences. The flyer will be used at events and promotional activities and will help us to educate people in Devon on blood cancer.
Given the Professional Pathways internship is 35 hours in total, how would you recommend ensuring both you and your intern gain as much as possible from the experience?
Prior to Bronwyn starting her internship, we met to introduce her to the work ELF do. As part of this we wanted to understand what she was hoping to get out of the internship and where her interests and skills lie. We were keen for her to get as much from this internship as we did, and to leave with experience and materials that can benefit her as she looks to start her future career. She left the initial meeting with a pack of information that showed the impact that ELF has and the work that we do.
Having met Bronwyn, it was clear she wanted to gain as many experiences as possible during her time with us, and we were able to facilitate this into her schedule.
Bronwyn’s first day was spent with our CEO at the Royal Devon and Exeter Haematology Centre. Bronwyn was able to meet our transport team and our patient liaison officer and understand more about their roles. She was also able to have a brief tour of the Haematology Centre to see the support that we offer.
We also produced a briefing document for the tasks we needed Bronwyn to complete. This gave her information that was needed for each task, possible research avenues and an idea of what success looked like for the task. The brief was followed up with a Q&A chat so any queries and questions could be asked and daily catch ups were also booked in. A named member of staff was also available if Bronwyn needed answers to any questions and to provide advice and feedback.
