I’m Poornima (or Moon: this is what the members of SSW call me now). I am a year 12 student from Sir Robert Woodard Academy. When I first heard about SSW, I thought for work experience all I am going to do is probably help the members with something general or the refreshments. By the time I did start, I had a rough expectation of what was happening as Jackie had sent me a rough schedule, following my first visit to SSW. The timetable was actually more packed than expected with a variety of events and activities. I was quite uncertain if I would fit in or if it might be boring perhaps (which didn’t happen; in fact my week at SSW was one of the most entertaining weeks of my life).
Day 1 started with a coffee morning. I just helped around with refreshments and – not going to lie – it was nerve wracking as I didn’t know how to approach the members and have a chat with them. After the initial nervousness, it was actually quite natural to talk to the members; it almost felt like they were my actual family at times. After the busy morning, Myra, SSW’s Head of Fundraising Events, assigned me and Susannah to make some small and cute goody bags for Worthing Summer Fete. Although it got exhausting towards the end, it was definitely worth it. It was almost like Myra was making two little elves wrap presents for Christmas! I ended my day by watching an intense match of Showdown in the activity room.
Day 2 was quite relaxed. I helped with the art session run by Fiona and Pat. The art pieces that came out of that session were far better than what I can ever do! In the afternoon, I made an itinerary flyer for the SSW Open Day.
On Day 3 Jackie ran through the process that is involved with fundraising, and went over her and Myra’s lovely fundraising whiteboard. I carried on making more posters about the different visual impairments. This helped me to learn and understand a lot of visual impairments that I had no clue of before this work experience.
Day 4 was more involved with technology, at the tech drop in. This is where the members of SSW can come in and our expert Ali will assist with all sorts of issues from suggesting the best reading lamp or magnification lens to any sort of assistance with technology to make it accessible for oneself. I quite enjoyed assisting Ali. During the afternoon, I had a session run by Ali with Susannah assisting. Ali went through the various visual impairments, the medical and social model and more theory stuff. Later on we did a more practical side of the session, such as an activity involving building blocks, trying on some goggles / glasses modified by Susannah to replicate how people with various visual impairments see things around them, and also the training for becoming a sight guide.
This was the day where I realised the harsh reality and stigma around visual impairment, and how oblivious our eyes are and how we can’t figure out if a person has some sort of visual impairment or not with a single glance.
Day 5 was more of all the stuff in one day, where I assisted more with the prep for the Steyne Garden Summer Fete, helped with the art session and also interviewed a few of the staff for my work experience journal.
Technically not day 6, but I popped in and helped with the Summer Fete for an hour or so.
Overall, I had a wonderful experience with SSW. Thanks to the lovely and brilliant SSW crew and the sweet members of SSW.
Thanks to this wonderful experience I had with SSW, I have decided to be a volunteer at SSW over the summer.
Signing off
Your Moon 🙂
