Children's Trust Unit

Lucy Axelby went on to complete an MA in Social Work at the University of York after graduating from York St John University and her Undergraduate Degree in Counselling (joined with Theology and Religious Studies). She explains that her part-time work in Disability Support at York St John and other care work in previous years has helped her to expand and grow both personally and professionally.

As part of her new course Lucy took part in a six-month graduate internship programme, organised through York St John and City of York Council at the Children's Trust Unit. “Because I was doing the Masters, the Trust let me shadow different social workers and find out more about the roles that I could do.”

Lucy references how easy it was for her to get support from her University following graduation and explains that the whole experience had a very positive effect on her and they way that she was able to learn. “I was very well supported by York St John and they helped me with my CV – it was a very good process.”

The opportunity came about through Lucy's regular contact with the Career's Service. “I did get regular e-mails from them about opportunities that were available,” she says, expanding on how she found out about the internship programme. “The e-mails were matched-up to what I had told them I was interested in, so it was a very simple process.”

Discussing her decision to move back in to student life after experiencing part-time employment as a care worker, Lucy comments on how the decision was influenced by the challenges she faced when looking for a a graduate job in her original field because to move into counselling she would have to be accredited. “That's a route I didn't want to go down,” she says. “I needed higher education to get work and I don't mind studying!”

Lucy expands on how the graduate internship she took part in has prepared her well for the challenges that she will face in a professional care environment. “I can relate what we are studying to real-life situations,” she comments. “A lot of the legislation that came up on the internship is now coming up on the course – I have also made lots of contacts within the industry.”

It can be very challenging for a student to go from working as part of a university into the sometimes daunting work place, but Lucy assures that by seeking support from your place of study, even after graduation, while also looking for help from credible organisations within their network in this case, Higher York can be incredibly beneficial. “It's very useful because often you will still have people that you can go back to if you have any problems or need support,” she explains. “Having that opportunity [to do the internship] allowed me to to experiment and see if that was the area that I wanted to go into.”

The internship has certainly raised Lucy's confidence and allowed her to thrive as she continues on with her education. “It's great to be taken seriously and to get to do work that makes a difference,” she comments. “I just got an e-mail from my boss [from the internship] saying that the Children's Workforce Development Council want to refer to the statistics that I have collected, and they are now being used by them and taken to different meetings on a national level.”

It is clear the Lucy is incredibly passionate about a career in social work and that she has benefited from the support of Higher York's network of institutions including City of York Council, York St John and now the University of York. “I didn't have a lot of problems that couldn't be dealt with in the workplace but just knowing that I had those kind of organisations behind me was very positive,” she says. “It's really good to be doing something that makes a difference to people's lives and it would be great if I were to go down the fostering and adoption route eventually, to support children in finding a good family.”