Name: Harry Fishwick
Job Title: Fundraising and Events Coordinator
Pathways Programme: Pathways to Charity and Development 2025
Organisation Summary: Space Youth Services works with over 7000 young people each year. We use professional youth work practice to provide time, space and support for teenagers as they navigate the transition to adulthood. This may be through our open access youth centres (including an online youth club), through targeted one to one work with young people struggling at school and/or with their mental health, through street based outreach in remote communities and specialist interventions to address issues or personal circumstances as needed (this includes a sexual health programme, work with young people with family members in prison, work using technology to enable housebound young people to plan their futures, and work in hospitals).
We have strong links with Devon County Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner, Housing Associations and health professionals who fund our work, but we are a charity that, like others, finds it hard to meet the scale of need we see across the county. Youth work has become an invisible profession but increasingly referenced and recognised as vital in supporting young people in 2025, preventing their engagement in unhealthy, anti-social and harmful behaviours. The fundraising team at Space work hard to raise the profile and understanding on the impact of our work and secure a range of income to enable us to develop and reach more young people so that they can gain a sense of belonging, skills, and hope for their future.
How did hosting an intern via the Professional Pathways programme benefit you and your organisation?
Our central staff team is relatively small compared to other charities, and I am currently acting in two roles, both fundraising and marketing. The fundraising department is stretched thin and often doesn’t have time to carry out activities like testimony gathering which is something we have wanted to do for a long time. Having our intern allowed us to delegate some of these tasks on our to-do lists. These tasks were competently completed, with our intern going out of her way to research deeper into youth work and interviewing techniques, outside of the briefing provided. Thanks to her we now have an extensive and categorised bank of impact testimony from our staff and people the charity has aided. Moreover, I also consulted with our intern to get an outside perspective on our social media and website and her insightful suggestions will be taken forward and implemented in time.
How was your experience of hosting a Pathways intern?
Our intern worked in a hybrid style, doing her first week in person and her second online. She was very prompt and prepared, always throwing herself fully into the tasks set. The process was very smooth – a testament to our intern’s adaptability, and she was happy to conduct interviews both in person and online (some people being interviewed lived far away), without compromising the quality of the interview on the gathered content. We also had regular check in’s at the beginning of each working day, so we could check in, review what was going well and whether our intern had any questions. I also informed her of what I was doing each day in case there was anything she might want to shadow or experience. This led to her shadowing me in an event planning session with our youth centre in Exmouth.
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?
Our intern’s work was split in two over two weeks. We planned all of the in-person content to take place in week one, allowing her to experience our work in the office, and meet our youth workers in their natural habitat. It also meant any immediate questions could be answered and I could regularly check in to make sure the interviews were going well. Another benefit of the in-person working days was it meant our intern could also collaborate with another person we had doing work experience with us, especially when it came to consulting on our social media and website. The second week was conducted remotely, and more hands-off, where I left our intern to write up the interviews she had recorded and put them into an accessible document. This meant our intern could choose their hours and tackle tasks at their own pace, but also meant I was still around to answer any questions and have check-ins, as I work full time.
Why would you recommend hosting an intern via Professional Pathways?
It’s no secret that Exeter University’s students are brilliant and so to have the opportunity to host one of them was something we jumped at. Our intern was so helpful and passionate, bringing incredible initiative and insight to every task they were set. It is clear they were used to working to a high standard and they went above and beyond, researching beyond the initial brief they were given and taking the initiative to add improvements to make their work even more efficient and accessible! Whether you’re looking for fresh set of eyes to help with your fundraising/ events/ marketing planning or someone passionate and driven to help with any tasks, we couldn’t recommend the Professional Pathways any more!