My First Three Weeks on Placement with CAFOD
Ciara writes about the start of her placement with CAFOD and the exciting projects to come…
(Image taken from CAFOD’s Photo Library)
As part of my Faith in Politics Internship I have recently started a placement with the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD), working in their government relations department as a parliamentary assistant. CAFOD is the official aid agency for the Catholic Church of England and Wales and the simplest way to explain my job is that I help to engage politicians with CAFOD’s mission. They work with partners all over the world campaigning for global justice, providing aid and support whenever necessary.
It has been a whirlwind of an experience so far and I am loving every minute of it!
So far, I have been helping to organise the CAFOD All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) which is focusing on sustainable food systems, one of CAFOD’s ongoing campaigns. As part of this campaign, I have also been involved in a “hand-in”, where we presented to the Foreign Office the signatures of over 10,000 Catholics petitioning the government to support a more sustainable food system. I am particularly looking forward to another event that I have been involved with entitled ‘Women in Leadership’. This will comprise a panel of inspirational women talking about the relationship between their faith and careers. I find this particularly inspiring as a young woman of faith at the very start of her career and I am excited to have a role in helping it all come together. These are just a few of the many highlights from the eventful start of my internship.
I am particularly looking forward to another event that I have been involved with entitled ‘Women in Leadership’…I find this particularly inspiring as a young woman of faith at the very start of her career and I am excited to have a role in helping it all come together.
Life at CAFOD is busy, with many ongoing campaigns, upcoming parliamentary events set against the current backdrop of an extremely turbulent government. It has been a whirlwind of an experience so far and I am loving every minute of it! Although I have only been at CAFOD a few weeks I have already learned a great deal. I am involved with campaigns that I feel passionately about and I am enjoying meeting people with phenomenal knowledge about different issues. Everyone I have met so far has been extremely friendly and welcoming and I am really looking forward to seeing what else the year has to bring.
