Laura Wheatley

• Design and facilitate numerous youth programmes for children aged 4-21 focusing on health & wellbeing, skill development, employability skills, media, cultural belonging and good relations.
• Designed a 3 year youth-led programme with an emphasis on relationship-building, reduction of risk-taking and active citizenship.
• Partnership work with other organisations to increase community relations.
• Created and maintain a youth podcast - working with recording and editing equipment on a weekly basis.
• Managing a volunteer team comprised of young people aged 13+ : leading training workshops, assigning tasks and supporting them through their volunteering experiences.
• Designated safeguarding officer for the organisation - writing incident reports, liaising with families and support agencies when required.
• Supporting young people on a small group and 1-1 basis - homework help, signposting to charity organisations, mental health help.
• Event organisation and management: experienced in organising celebration events, large holiday schemes and conferences for organisations to network together.
• Funding applications: a large part of the role involves applying for grant funding to improve services and activities for the young people I work with. This involves regular reports back to funders as well as preparing for moderations and working out budgets.
• Evaluation methods: using innovative ways to evaluate programmes and participant progress as well as compiling findings and using them during reports.
• Administration: daily admin including data collection through Upshot, maintaining regular contact with parents and volunteers, writing reports and session plans for programmes.
• Administration of holiday schemes 4 x a year including recruitment, management of volunteers and activity sessions and post-scheme infographic creation.

Having previously completed the course, I was asked to come back as course co-ordinator for the year 2015-2016. I did this on Monday evenings alongside my full-time job. My role there:

• Act as the first point of contact for students regarding any queries about the course.
• Be there each Monday evening to let students into the building, register them and make them feel welcome and prepared for the evening.
• Work with lecturers to ensure they are prepared for the evening; setting up laptops/projectors and screens as well as assisting with media. This also included setting up the room in whatever way the lecturer needed.
• Be a mediator between the students and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
• Informing the class of important dates eg assignment deadlines, holidays and details of the residential.
• Ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students and lecturers in the class.

• Advising the general public on types of home heating grants and measures they may avail of.
• Use of APP and Postbook database system.
• Conducting income-tested assessments, giving approval for work to go ahead, helping customers with grant queries.
• Administration work; sending letters, arranging appointments, keeping applicant information up to date.
  
  In April 2016 I moved to the Housing Executive in Craigavon where I worked for Housing Benefit in the Telephony Unit:
• First point of contact for tenants and landlords who had queries surrounding Housing Benefit, Local Housing Allowance and how the application process works.
• Authorised Discretionary Housing Payments (additional help with rent)
• Maintained the filing system.

I worked in South Belfast with all ages; babies, primary school children, teenagers and senior citizens.

• Ran a variety of programmes; afterschool clubs, drop-in and youth club for the teens, a friendship group for senior citizens, a breakfast for men from the local homeless hostel and a toddler group for the local mums and toddlers.
• implemented Messy Church once a month to engage families in a non-traditional church service; games, crafts, songs, a story and finishing off with a meal together to bring about that sense of community within Sandy Row.
• worked for SPUD, PCI's Youth Assembly (Speaking, Participating, Understanding and Deciding).
• took minutes during our meetings and organised all our events throughout the year as well as giving a speech at the General Assembly in 2015 detailing our progress.