A week’s work experience with Brook 

Issabella Patel is a member of Brook’s 16-19 Participation Advisory Group. This year she did her Year 12 work experience with Lisa Hallgarten, Brook’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs. In this blog, she shares how she found her time with the team. 

During my week at Brook, I learnt the value of showing up.

Showing up on time, for others, and for your community. That the work an individual does can have a boundless impact on another’s.  

Even though I was only there for a couple of days, I found the work environment was very welcoming. When I arrived at Brook’s office, Lisa toured me around the building and ensured I was comfortable and prepared. I was also fortunate enough to sit in on a digital and communications team meeting and was able to gage the very proactive and friendly environment that the team has built. Listening to people from the different aspects of the team was surprising as I would have never thought there was so many moving parts of projects that Brook undertook. 

Getting to experience the hybrid way of working was very accommodating. I enjoyed both being in an office and travelling into central London, and working from home, equally. Within the hybrid work experience I was able to manage my own time and it was a great way to learn my optimal working environment and times.  

Projects I worked on during my time with Brook: 

Pledge Responses 

This task was one of the most daunting ones during my work experience at Brook, having to categorise responses to Brook’s pledge supporting high quality, inclusive RSHE. It was daunting due to the sheer number of responses, which were all filled with passion for why RSHE is important and how it could shape the future for themselves, parents and their children. I could see the common themes and concerns both young people and parents had.

It allowed me to understand that charities like Brook have an outreach beyond my initial comprehension.  

Letter to the Schools Minister  

I was also able to help write a letter to the new Secretary of State for Education, Minister for Women and Equalities, and Minister for School Standards about the draft guidance on Relationships, Sex and Health Education. As part of the process I spoke to Faustine Petron from Make it Mandatory who widened my perspective on how RSE in schools is inadequate and needs to be extended into Year 12 and 13. Unfortunately the response from the Minister for School Standards was underwhelming and no commitment was made to engaging with young people despite what was laid out in our letter. However, from this I learned that progress never comes quickly, and this makes Brook and their continuous advocacy for young people’s rights so much more important.  

Canva 

Having the opportunity to experiment with Canva, with help from the Communications team, was a new experience I am glad I had. Understanding the detail and importance of creating a clear and thoughtful message was a task I found more challenging than I expected. However, with guidance from Senior Communications and Policy Coordinator, Eliza Bell, I was able to learn the importance of targeting the audience you want to reach and finding the best way to do that.  

Open Letter 

Writing an open letter to Keir Starmer about the importance of young people’s rights was a great way for me to understand how the government understands the rights of young people in action. This was especially intriguing to myself, as Keir Starmer was a human rights lawyer, a career path I aspire to take. This was a task that Lisa had suggested as she took the time to know my aspirations and goals, an aspect of the work experience I greatly appreciated.  

Final Reflections 

After having the opportunity to do work experience at Brook, I believe this experience is beneficial no matter the career path you wish to go down. The scope of skills and experience in the Communications team alone covered multiple different career paths. As someone who wants to go into human rights, learning about the rights of young people was incredibly beneficial and will be an experience I talk about in future interviews for solicitor apprenticeships this year.