Work experience at the Harrow Youth Stop

By Anvi Kulkarni and Ariana Dotani

Me and my friend came to Harrow Youth Stop to do work experience. We came from Bentley Wood High school and were placed here as we were unable to find a workplace. At first, we were kind of nervous as to what the job would require us to do, but when we got there, it was a whole different experience. The staff were some of the nicest and patient people we had met. They welcomed us and made us feel very comfortable. We got to meet with different people part of the Shaw Trust organisation, and we learned about the roles they played. We were assigned to do reception cover and admin tasks as well as projects, redesigning the building and website development.

Reception cover was the main thing we did. The staff trained us on what we had to do for reception like how to welcome people and what to say. Especially because we had people with special needs come in, it was really important we were mindful of them and that we understood what we needed to do to make them feel comfortable and safe. Working for Harrow Youth Stop meant we had to make sure that the young people who came through the door in need of support felt safe to discuss their concerns so that we could help them achieve success.

To keep us engaged they gave us projects to do such as, redesigning the rooms with a budget, reviewing the website for any improvements. For they redesign project, we were told to create a plan for three different rooms and how we would make the rooms look better based on three different budgets: £0 budget, £100 budget and £1000 budget. The activity was very exciting, and we had to consider how we could make the rooms more comforting for young people and adults who came in. For the website project we reviewed the websites pros and cons and then gave them some positive criticism and feedback to improve their website to cater to young people.

We were also given the opportunity to have career interviews with some of the best career advisors. It helped us to think about about our future education and career options. We would definitely recommend this organisation if you need some advice about what to do post 16 and post 18 for your education.

In conclusion, this organisation has provided us with new experiences and useful skills for when we get a real job in the future. We really enjoyed working alongside the wonderful team and we really appreciated the opportunities they gave us.

By Anvi Kulkarni and Ariana Dotani.