Line Manager Name: Helen Trevaskis
Job Title: Founder and Director of StreetDraw24
Pathways Programme: Pathways to Arts, Culture & Heritage
Organisation Summary: StreetDraw24 CIC was created in 2021, to formalise what had previously run as a series of projects since 2018. The organisation designs and runs community arts events and projects that help people see where they live afresh and that raise funds for local charitable organisations. These include StreetDraw24 community drawing events and exhibitions – we’ve run 8 over the last five
years but this plan to run around that amount in total. They also included People. Project
Cornwall last year – a research project and outdoor exhibition that challenged stereotypes
around homelessness.
How did hosting an intern via the Professional Pathways programme benefit you and your organisation?
As a small organisation it was exciting and a little daunting to have a smart intern placed with us through the Professional Pathways program! It was also really beneficial as the work she did enabled us to think more carefully about our purpose as an organisation and have given us a really strong idea for how to expand what we do. We weren’t expecting this!
How was your experience of hosting a Pathways intern?
We worked together on Zoom so never met although I hope we will one day. This worked well because the student placed with us was self-motivated, organised and had real-world experience of working to brief and deadlines.
Given the Professional Pathways internship is 35 hours in total, how would you recommend ensuring both you and your intern(s) gain as much as possible from the experience?
The program literature stressed the importance of setting objectives for the time working together and I’d strongly recommend this – we used a one-page brief to keep us on track during the work we did together.
Why would you recommend Professional Pathways to other employers?
It’s a win-win. You get someone smart and fresh to what you do to work for you and they get experience that can help propel them into the world of work when they graduate. Why wouldn’t any organisation want to do this!
What advice would you give to a student considering applying for Professional Pathways?
Think hard about what you want from a placement but be open to getting something you didn’t expect too!