A Day In The Life

Doreen Thompson-Addo

Posted 01 May 2015

New York Program

January 2002 Intake

Doreen Thompson-Addo (January 2002 - New York), graduate of Keele University enjoyed her internship at Mountbatten so much that she ended up working for the London office of her internship company for another year and half. However, in 2004 she decided to leave the corporate sector and has been working in the charity sector ever since. She is currently Head of Programmes at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.

Morning: I usually get into the office around 9am and review my 'to do' list for the day before catching up with Rosemary and David, my 2 fabulous team members, to see how they are progressing with the projects they are working on. Rosemary is co-ordinating our Access to Professions law programme which is raising the aspirations of young people in inner city schools and offering them practical insights and advice about the legal profession. David is working on an exciting new pilot programme that aims to improve the relationship between the police and the local community. After catching up with them I will spend time responding to important emails and returning telephone calls.

Afternoon: I spend quite a lot of time attending meetings and developing new business relationships. I particularly enjoy my meetings at the BBC and the Houses of Parliament. In 2014 we delivered a successful pre-apprenticeship programme in partnership with the BBC and are currently looking at running the programme again. The programme offers talented young people with limited academic qualifications the opportunity to gain a recognised qualification and work experience/mentoring at the BBC (as well as free tickets to the Graham Norton Show!). My meetings at the Houses of Parliament led to the first Political Journalism internship programme being delivered, where 4 young people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds spent 2 weeks each at the Political Press Gallery (the highlight? Prime Ministers Question Time!).

Evening: On Mondays I work late with an amazing group of young people who create a digital magazine called SLIK Magazine (they have a website – www.slikmagazine.co.uk – SLIK TV launching soon on YouTube). The magazine is published every other month and offers young people not only the chance to create a digital platform in which their views on various topics and issues can be shared, but more importantly it's an opportunity for them to develop important personal and professional skills such as problem solving, team working, meeting deadlines and inter-personal skills. The team are still buzzing from recently meeting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who visited the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust in April and got to learn more about SLIK Magazine. My biggest priority during these Monday evening meetings is to make sure I order their pizza, or else!

To find out more about the work of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, visit www.stephenlawrence.org.uk or find them on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also connect with Doreen on LinkedIn.