This week, we celebrated the end of our third cohort of Jack Petchey Interns and their graduation from the programme! This cohort has seen a wide range of roles, youth organisations and experiences, all feeding directly into the youth sector and empowering the interns to build a better tomorrow for young people!

In a wonderful celebration evening held at Young Actors Theatre, Islington (who are also hosting a Jack Petchey Intern from cohort 4) we awarded certificates to all interns, as well as looked back and celebrated all that had been achieved over the past year.

A highlight of the evening was hearing from our interns directly. Many sent us short videos reflecting on their experiences and what they had learnt over their 12-month placement, and the impact they had seen on young people they work with.

One such intern, Ashley from XLP, gave a short speech with his line manager, Steven, about what he had learned about motivating and working with young people.

“Every time you ask Ash to do something for a young person, he always says: ‘We can do more!’. That’s the kind of youth worker he is.” Said Steven. “He is such an advocate for other young people.”

“I found the internship at a time when I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to do what I can in my community… I’ve definitely learned a lot this year.” Said Ash.

Ashley has directly impacted over 400 young people in his role in the past year, and incredible achievement which really highlights the impact of the Jack Petchey Internship, not just on the intern, but on young people across London and Essex.

Trudy Kilcullen MBE, former Chief Executive and current Special Projects Advisor at the Foundation, closed the event by saying: “You have shown great resilience throughout your wide variety of placements, and that resilience will get you anywhere… We’ve been delighted to hear about the ripple effect of your work and how you have positively impacted so many young people as we recover from the pandemic.”

The celebration event was followed by an opportunity to chat, network and enjoy some canapés. After the cohort has experienced a mix of in-person and online training due to the pandemic, it was brilliant to see them all together celebrating their achievements.

Around half of this year’s internship cohort have progressed to other roles at their host organisations, and the majority have gone on to secure employment, further education or training. We can’t wait to see what they go on to do next!

The Jack Petchey Internship programme is designed to give young people a flying start in the youth and charity sector. It aims to support dynamic young individuals in their first step towards being the sector’s future leaders. By giving charities funding for employing an intern for a year, the programme provides organisations with an additional and valuable resource to help them achieve their mission to support young people in London and Essex.

To find out more about the Jack Petchey Internship Programme, click here.

To hear from our interns, click here.

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