Hi, we are Jessica, Lucy and Hannah. We are year 12 students from Bewdley Sixth Form and King Edwards Sixth Form College.
We have spent the past week participating in a work experience placement on Diglis Island shadowing the specialists and working alongside the volunteers.
As part of our work experience programme, we were fortunate enough to meet with Charles Crundwell, a Senior Fisheries in the Environment Agency’s National Team, who has special expertise with regards to the shad and he was kind enough to show us the viewing gallery. During our time spent with Charles we gained an insight into how his knowledge has allowed him to pursue a career in monitoring and surveying.
Moving onto the more practical side of the work experience we spent time with Pete Savage, a Waterways Environment Apprentice. After discovering his career path into conservation,
we found out that there are multiple pathways into the sector. Knowing this before starting our career search was especially useful as it has opened our eyes to the multiple options regarding conservation and, after shadowing him at work, we can now understand the logistics of his role. We enjoyed discovering life outside sixth form and this work experience has made us all more confident in knowing that there are so many options available to
The takeaway message: put yourself out there…us in the future.
If there is one thing, we have learnt from our experience it is that, within the conservation sector, there is a role for everyone. We have encountered careers that touch on every subject from geography to engineering to education and the number of people involved in a project, such as Unlocking The Severn, is vast and varied. This was largely unknown to us before participating in this experience and will be invaluable to us when moving into the future and researching new career possibilities.
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