The Canterbury Journey is a six-year project, funded by a large grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, aimed at achieving a radical transformation in the accessibility and sustainability of Canterbury Cathedral. It will safeguard an iconic building which embodies England’s story, increase the number and broaden the range of those who journey to it, and enrich their experience. One of the strands of this project was to develop engagement with the community, particularly to increase the depth of experience for local children. During the school holidays, workshop and events programmes have been created, and Annabel was involved in helping to facilitate these during the August summer holidays, including clay workshops and stone workshops – engaging them with the work of the Cathedral craftspeople.
Annabel really enjoyed her time working with the Canterbury Journey team, finding them extremely welcoming and helpful. Getting to know other team members was particularly helpful, as it gave her insight into the ways that they have come into heritage work and gave her some useful advice on what she could do to increase her chances of breaking into this competitive industry. Liam O’Driscoll managed Annabel during her placement, and he commented on how much of a benefit she was to the team, boosting them and providing support during a very busy time, demonstrating a great attitude to her work with plenty of initiative. He also made sure he carved out plenty of time to talk about her plans and ambitions in her heritage career, something which he highlights as the biggest positive of the EP scheme – to support young people in making their first steps in their chosen career.
Annabel got involved with EP when she started University, with the aim to try and expand her work experience and networking opportunities in the hopes of making finding a graduate job easier. Having started university during covid, she commented that finding experience has been hard for herself and her classmates, and that the scheme was a massive help with overcoming this problem:
“I would say that securing placements and experience are vital for finding jobs after university so it is definitely important to make use of the tools you have available to you whilst at university, as this is something which will be extremely valuable for the long-term future.”
We couldn’t agree more! Sign up to EP today and increase your chances of securing that sought after placement experience!
Find out more about the Canterbury Journey on their website.