My work experience with Anchor working on SU4SD

My name is Marley, this summer I did work experience with Anchor in their London office and I’d like to share my experience with other young people considering getting practical experience in the workplace.

I have an interest in working in PR, marketing and advertising, and wanted to gain some work experience in these areas. When looking for opportunities one of my main priorities was to work for an ethical company, and Anchor definitely fulfilled that. Making a difference to the lives of older people is the backbone of the company and it was beyond evident every team member I met believed in the organisations ethos of “Happy living for the years ahead”. It made me even more determined contribute to that difference.

Walking into the office, everyone was immediately welcoming and from my first to my last day I was never short of a helping hand if I needed one. This really helped me to enjoy my experience to the fullest.

For two weeks I worked on Anchor’s Standing Up 4 Sitting Down campaign. It’s Anchor’s national initiative to encourage retailers to provide seating for those who may need it. I could see the need for such a campaign, it is such a simple ask that could really benefit so many people, including older people, and so it automatically became something I had a real interest in working on.

My responsibilities stretched to all areas of the campaign, from researching retailers we could contact, to ensuring that shops who wanted to be part of the campaign received their supporter stickers. 

I found calling the retailers to encourage them to join our campaign the most fulfilling task I undertook. It could be tricky getting people to let me explain what I was calling about, and adapting to each shop owner was definitely a learning curve. But overall I feel it improved my confidence and my ability to communicate persuasively. There was also a great sense of achievement every time I got a retailer to agree to support SU4SD, and it really made me feel like I’d made a difference.

During my two weeks I am very proud that I managed to get more than 30 retailers across England signed up. You can find out who on the SU4SD Supporters page here. 

As a young person and an undergrad, I am still discovering what direction I want my career to go in. As such, my time at Anchor has been an invaluable experience that has opened my eyes to the opportunities in front of me, and I will always be grateful for the guidance and insight that I have gained through my time at Anchor. 

And if you are a retailer, I strongly recommend you get involved with Standing Up 4 Sitting Down – it is a great campaign that will benefit us all.

Marley Muirhead did work experience with Anchor’s Communications team in July 2017