One student shares their experience of a work opportunity this year’s festival

The Being Human Festival is the UK’s annual national festival of the humanities. Each year events are held to celebrate and demonstrate the ways in which the humanities inspire and enrich our everyday lives, helping us to understand ourselves, our relationships with others and the challenges we face in a changing world.

As part of this year’s festival, CCCU academics, Canterbury Christ Church Creatives and Canterbury Forget-Me-Nots, a local dementia support group, worked together to host an event called ‘Beach City Canterbury’. This event focused on exploring memories, the history of beach holidays and British seaside culture. Through object handling, place-based memory prompts and creative crafts, the organisers aimed to provide attendees with talking points and the opportunity to reminisce with carers and family members.

My involvement in the project began when my tutor, Professor Carolyn Oulton, approached me about supporting in a paid administrative role. The flexible nature of the work meant it would fit around my studies and caring responsibilities.

I was very interested in the project as it focused on the wellbeing and needs of an often-marginalised group of people. It was also an ideal opportunity to revive my rusty skill sets and get involved in some teamwork.

My first task was to complete the event risk assessment. Had I ever worked on a risk assessment before? I had not, so this was quite a steep learning curve! My nursing experience helped me to think logically about the risks involved when working with potentially vulnerable clients; putting in measures to avoid accidental injury or distress to those involved. I was further informed by an online Dementia Friends session, which I took part in during the early days of the assignment.

Later in the project, I was involved in researching costs and sourcing resources and further documentation – sizing and printing craft sheets, finding beach themed photographs for the displays and obtaining insurance documentation from the venue.

Saying yes to this opportunity has been a positive experience for me. I’ve enjoyed liaising with different departments within the University, seeing how they work together, and I’ve gained another perspective on the role of tutors outside of seminar sessions with students. I have also seen how the University interacts with and benefits the wider community and can now appreciate the amount of time spent, and how much hard work goes on behind the scenes, when organising events.

Having not worked for some years, I had moments of doubt when I wondered if I was the right person for the job, but I was supported throughout and feel more confident about getting involved in the future.

Written by: Helen Counsell, a current student of our BA (Hons) in Creative and Professional Writing.

Find out more about the project here