“I’ve learnt, even if you don’t believe in yourself, others will”

Thanks to support from players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, Carers Trust has launched an Internship Programme for young adult carers. The programme aims to offer young adult carers with meaningful work and experience that gets them on the career ladder and helps them develop the skills they can take forward into their working lives.

Storm Heaven is just completing her internship within the Corporate Fundraising team at Carers Trust. So we asked her to reflect on her time with us:

Hey there!

I’m Storm, I’m a Young Adult Carer and now I’m coming to the end of my first ever internship. I started as an intern nearly three months ago in the Fundraising and Corporate Partnership team at Carers Trust …although by the time you read this it will have probably already finished – sad, I know.

This blog is going to be a sort of advice blog to all young adult carers out there as well as some own personal reflections.

I’m not sure where to start so I guess I’ll go with the logical option - the beginning of my internship with Carers Trust. I didn’t quite believe that that Carers Trust had taken a chance on me. 

After I found out I got the internship, I did a little happy dance, just like I’m sure other young people who get opportunities like this will! For me the process was a little scary but at the same time I figured ‘why not’ …most of time this is how I go through life, but sometimes my mind likes to play tricks and tell me things like ‘I’m not good enough’ - but look at where I am now.

To other young adult carers starting out in the world of work I’d say it’s okay to be nervous at the beginning as it can be scary starting something new. No matter what new adventure you may be on, take a deep breath and smile, because (and trust me on this) you will be A-MAZING! 

I’ve learnt even if you don’t believe in yourself, others will; and that feels so good!  Everyone here at Carers Trust had my back, lifted me up and encouraged me which is basically everything you want in a dream job.  So I learned to enjoy it, and take in and accept all the positivity and encouragement.

There are so many high points to try and pick out, meeting Carers Trust’s corporate partners Bloom and Wild was amazing, they are so lovely, kind and genuine, and have a real sincere desire to make a difference, of which I’m grateful for and so glad I got the opportunity to meet with them. I also enjoyed helping to plan their Christmas campaign

Another highlight was meeting everyone from Carers Trust and truly feeling part of the family. From day one I got welcomed with open arms and encouraged and supported- something which I’ll always be thankful for.  This whole opportunity is something I will be able to look back on and smile about.

One of the main low points of my time as an intern is definitely the fact that I don’t believe in myself, something I’ve struggled with sometimes, and didn’t recognise in myself that I am good at some things. If this is something that you recognise, then I guess my best advice would be to listen to the positive things that people say about you. They have the ‘from the outside looking in’ view so their perspective is completely different. So have faith in yourself.

I have learnt lots of interesting and useful things to help me at work in future, from how to write a report, research skills, to how corporate partnerships work! There is so much work that goes on behind the scenes and to be part of it, seeing how partnerships are formed, secured and looked after is amazing!

Well as I come to the end of this blog, I’ll be honest- I’m not quite sure know to say how I feel, but I will say this; this is an amazing opportunity so grab it with both hands and don’t let go.  You may doubt yourself- I know I do….but take the leap, dive right in, take each day as it comes and be happy.

You might have days where you doubt yourself, but these will be outnumbered and outmatched by the good days, the days where you laugh and smile, the days where someone tells you ‘you’re doing good’ the days where you complete something you didn’t think you could- whether this is leading a meeting, writing an email or doing a report….whatever it is for you, that’s amazing.

If you take one thing from this blog from this let it be this – enjoy times like this, grab the opportunities like this, and remember - you are not alone, so believe in yourself!

The Carers Trust internship programme is sponsored by the players of the People's Postcode Lottery.