My name is Ruben Brown and I am a second-year Sociology student from the University of Sheffield. I chose to study Sociology because I want to become an Equality and Diversity Officer and make sure that people have the same opportunities regardless of their socio-economic background. Over the summer I have been fortunate enough to have had a summer internship with Ignite Imaginations. This placement appealed to me because I could see how passionate Ignite Imaginations are about ensuring everyone has an outlet to express their creativity. This internship has given me a key insight into how a charity organises itself and makes sure its work is effective, but it has also shown me how important the work Ignite Imaginations does for the community and the individuals who use its services.  

I relocated to Sheffield from Scotland just 2 years ago and was looking for an Arts organisation to volunteer with. After looking at the Ignite Imaginations website, their Community / Events work really appealed to me so I decided to get in touch.

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It has been a great experience from the start, and although I already have many years experience in the Arts, I have still learnt something new such as office/admin skills.

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The Ignite Imaginations team are amazing. So supportive and helpful, and have made me feel at home in a new city. It has definitely given me more confidence when approaching people in the local area in regards to my own art and design work, and has opened up more doors.

I first became involved in Ignite Imaginations after my children started school. I hoped to return to work but felt that my skills and confidence needed reviving. I thought Ignite Imaginations would be an ideal organisation to open out new opportunities for me to focus on a career change.

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The charity is a welcoming and inclusive organisation, with lots of opportunities to develop your talents. As the organisation covers a varied array of events across Sheffield, this has allowed me to experience a diverse range of workshops and events.

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I feel so much more confident after volunteering at the charity as I have discovered I am capable of achieving goals outside of my home environment. I have also improved my IT skills, increased my administrative  experience and developed relationships with artists and the team at Ignite Imaginations.

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I am currently applying for administrative roles in the arts and higher education sectors and hope to find a suitable position.

I emailed Ignite Imaginations when they advertised a film making internship, after seeing it advertised on Twitter. I met with Luisa and we had a talk about what it would entail and the equipment and support that she could provide. As it’s a voluntary position, they have been great at making sure that the internship isn’t interfering with any other commitments I have!

My volunteering with Ignite Imaginations has only been making this film, however, after hearing about everyone’s positive experiences with the organisation I am excited to stay involved once my project is complete! I’ve been given training into how to use new equipment, and Luisa has helped me recruit artists and volunteers for the interviews. It’s been great to have the freedom to try new things and learn more about film making, and working with lots of different people that are involved in the organisation!

The team at Ignite Imaginations was very helpful and supportive, giving me the right amount of guidance and making sure that I found out about any opportunities that came up which were related to my interests. Throughout my internship, I had been given a varied workload and no two days were the same. One day I could be in the office drafting contracts for our artists, making booking forms and contacting participants, another day I could be writing press releases and using Twitter and Facebook to promote our events and liaise with our followers. There was even an opportunity to use some of the experience gained as part of my Psychology degree as I had to construct an online questionnaire that was supposed to measure the impact of our art classes on the target communities.

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Having this broad perspective of how work is conducted at Ignite Imaginations, I was pleasantly impressed by their commitment to quality and their professional integrity. Finally, I cannot stress enough what a wonderful experience this has been for me. Ignite Imaginations is a small organisation with a big heart and they have won my lasting admiration.