Charity Interns: a route in for people with transferable skills

With recruitment an issue for many charities, a project in the UK is organising paid internships for people with transferable skills who have struggled to break into the sector.

Charity Interns launched last May. It is founded and led by Maya Bhose, and incubated by the UK’s National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

Maya Bhose

The project aims to help address the sector’s recruitment challenges and skills shortages by tapping into a wider and potentially overlooked talent pool, and providing a stepping stone into the voluntary sector. By doing so, it is also highlighting both the positive impact of transferable skills, and that there is no end date for the relevance of experience.

Commenting on why she set up Charity Interns, Bhose says:

“In my 50s, after 25 years working in marketing and brand development, I knew that I wanted to work for a charity. But I really struggled to get on anyone’s radar because I didn’t have any charity experience – most job descriptions asked for that – and I didn’t have contacts in the voluntary sector. I soon realised that my story of how hard it can be to switch into the voluntary sector was far from unique.

“The main motivation behind Charity Interns is to stop the waste of talent that is happening across all sectors and to do something practical to make older people visible to employers, help them extend their careers, and allow charities to benefit from their skills, knowledge and unique perspectives.”

Six-month pilot

A six-month pilot programme placing six interns in charities launched in late 2023. This is now at its halfway point, and a plan has been announced to turn the programme into a standalone organisation and roll it out with a bigger group of interns this autumn.

The charities involved in the current pilot are Age UK, Age International, Alzheimer’s Society, British Heart Foundation, and Disability Equality Scotland. A recruitment specialist, Charity People, is also involved – backing the project and helping to recruit the first interns. The internships are paid pro rata, at the UK’s real living wage of £21,749 per annum in London and £19,838 per annum in the rest of the country.

About the interns

The participating interns come from a range of industries including advertising, creative, financial services, banking and technology. They include people who are looking to switch from roles in another sector and people returning to work after career breaks or time away due to caring responsibilities. All were looking for an entry way into the voluntary sector and had struggled to break into it.

Three of the six interns are in fundraising roles, with the others working in campaigning, volunteer management, and member engagement. Most positions are hybrid, with one fully remote role.

One of the interns, Mills, who is interning in the volunteering team at Age UK commented:

“Working at Age UK has done two things for me. Firstly, without a doubt, I have got my confidence back and know that I am an able, good, and diligent employee with a lot to offer. I am getting a lot of positive feedback from my team. Secondly, I have had the opportunity to work within a charity and can use my experience to positively explain what my role was and what I achieved in my six-month placement.

“I am extremely pleased that I applied for Charity Interns and that I was offered an interview and opportunity to work at Age UK for 6 months. I feel confident again and can clearly see that my skills are transferable, and it will give me the ability in an interview for a charity role to speak with ‘insider’ knowledge.”

Before the pilot started the interns undertook training with their placement charity and learnt about the charity landscape. They also heard from people who had successfully transitioned from the corporate world into the voluntary sector.

During the pilot, Charity Interns is meeting regularly with the interns and the staff supporting them, to record their progress and observations. When the pilot ends this spring, these findings will be shared with the sector.

Multiple benefits

Bhose adds:

“The interns are enjoying their placements and are contributing, learning, and gaining confidence for their professional futures in the voluntary sector. We believe that this pilot not only benefits the interns, but also provides invaluable experience to line managers in our partner organisations who are leading co-generational teams— a skill in increasing demand as the UK workforce ages.”

Commenting on the pilot, Paul Farmer, the CEO of Age UK, said:

“As a charity that works with older people, and employs many older people, we want to play our full part in helping to support the charity sector to be the best possible employer of older people. The Charity Interns programme pilot is an excellent way for us to support some older workers to transfer their skills to the voluntary sector, and for us all to learn more about what we need to do as employers. Both Age UK and Age International are delighted to be taking part in the pilot and we are looking forward to the results.”

Charity Interns is now inviting charities and individuals interested in taking part in the next stage of the programme to get in touch.

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