Meet Ollie, our Projects Officer

Ollie Phillips joined Walton Charity just over a year ago through the Government’s Kickstart scheme - a scheme helping 16 -24 year olds find work following the pandemic.

We asked Ollie what the Kickstart scheme meant to him and how his time with Walton Charity has helped shape his plans for the future.

Q. You decided to leave your university course, why?

I went into university without much thought. It was what everyone else was doing and what was expected of me because I achieved good exam results.

Then the pandemic came and that was the nail in the coffin for me because the degree I was doing was electrical engineering and a lot of it is lab work and you couldn’t get any of that. The university I went to – Southampton – has a great engineering department, so I didn’t want to be paying huge fees and not have access to the lab. It was all online videos and so that really was the deciding factor.

I got good exam results at school (11 GCSE’s and 3 A Levels). Prior to my decision to go to university, I was quite set on doing an apprenticeship but with the exam grades I got, everyone just expected me to go to university and I went with the flow.

When I left my course, I started thinking of taking a higher-level apprenticeship instead, where you can gain qualifications to the same level as a degree. I really wanted to finish with full time education and not getting £50,000 in debt was attractive too!

Q. How hard was it for you to find a job?

About a month after I came home from university, I started looking for work but because it was during the first lockdown, I could not find anything. At the time, jobs in supermarkets were getting 50 applications for 1 job, so I just wouldn’t hear back from applications. It was totally soul destroying.

After a couple of months of job hunting, I started receiving Universal Credit and was on that benefit for about 4 or 5 months. That’s a long time when you really want work. I applied for loads of jobs through the Job Centre and my work coach mentioned the Kickstart scheme. I went for my first interview with Walton Charity and then was asked back for a second interview. Both must have gone well, as I was offered a six-month contract – I have now been here for over a year!

Q. What is your role at the Charity and what have you learnt?

My job title is Projects Officer, and the role is really varied. I’ve worked on large projects. For example, helping the accounts team to change over to Xero accounting software; and helping the grants team to change over to a new grants management system. Then there has been a lot of smaller projects too – I have done a lot of survey work; and I’ve collated a lot of information and displayed the information in a clear way for various projects.

I help at the Walton & Hersham foodbank on Wednesday mornings, and I really enjoy that because it is something different. I do like variety in my work and that’s something I’ve realised. I would not like a job doing the same thing day in, day out.

It has been a big learning curve for me – I’ve learnt a lot about how an office works…. all the fundamentals that people who have been in long-term work take for granted. I have learnt about what sort of work I am good at and enjoy doing because I have had the chance to try so many different things.

Q. How has the Charity supported you?

My manager, Louise, has been extremely helpful the whole time I have been here. She is always checking up to see that I am OK in my work and making sure that I have enough to do but not too much to do too. She has also been incredibly supportive of any career development and is helping me with that as I am thinking about my next steps. She sets goals and deadlines and I’ve found that I work well with deadlines, and it is another thing that I have realised about my working style. It is that I am going to take away most – learning how I work.

Q. Have you decided on a career that you may pursue?

I have decided to find 3-5 different careers that I would be happy to do and search for job openings.

The key for me is to match my strengths to a career and then demonstrate these strengths to employers with examples of what I have done.

Q. What else have you learnt during your time with Walton Charity?

One of the main things I have learnt is how necessary local organisations like Walton Charity, foodbanks and the charity sector really are. Without them so many people would suffer so much more. I feel it takes people working at a local level to truly understand the needs of the community.

It’s also made me appreciate what a monumental task it is to tackle poverty and inequality, not just in the short-term, but also to create lasting change. A lot of what causes poverty is outside of individual people’s control.

Q. What tips do you have for Walton Charity or other local charities who want to employ young people?

I think that if you publicise the job well, they will find you. Young people are eager to work, especially people that have decided further education is not for them. I do think the charity sector is not a well-known career option for young people, so I do think more could be done to change that. For example, schools could present to students how rewarding this work can be and how it has a direct impact on people’s lives. Also, the variety of roles available and the work flexibility (something a lot of young people look for) are great benefits that could be mentioned more.