My internship at Point North

My time at Point North is coming to an end and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to reflect on my internship.

What began as an eight-week programme developed into two years of invaluable experience, working to support charities in and around County Durham and the wider North East against the backdrop of turbulent economic and social change in the UK.

I applied to the college-run Changemakers Internship Programme whilst on my year abroad. I was heading into the final year of my undergraduate degree and knew that I wanted a career in the charity sector, guided by the values of empathy and compassion and the goal to make a difference. I discovered the role at Point North and was drawn to the consistent community focus and their mission to fight poverty and enrich lives in the North East.

Living in Durham as a student, it was the perfect way to learn and give back to a place that I loved so much. I knew from my first conversation with Michelle that it was the right place for me; it was clear that their mission truly underpinned all their work and, with their successful Poverty Hurts fundraising campaign and publication of the Health Equity Report (2023), I knew that it was an organisation dedicated to making change.

My role at Point North

I stepped into the internship with limited knowledge of grant making and started by learning the ins and outs of grant assessment, allocation and monitoring. I supported the team with assessments and administration and observed panel meetings to understand how they collaborated to come to funding decisions. I eventually took on a key role in the grant assessment process, actively contributing to panel discussions and expanding my knowledge of charity governance and project planning.

Once I had improved my knowledge of Point North’s funds and the breadth of local charity projects, I began to collect data and craft reports to display the impact of our grants. By organising interviews with grant recipients, I was able to understand how funding was used and appreciated by grantees and express this to our donors and stakeholders. I wrote reports on our rolling Community Grants Fund, the Organisational Sustainability Fund and conducted a multi-year deep dive into the impact of our individual grants. I found patterns in the feedback given, explaining both the predicted and unforeseen effects of the grant programmes. From this, I was also able to make observations about the issues faced in our communities during extremely difficult times, post-Covid and during the cost-of-living crisis.

What have I learnt from this experience?

Be responsive to change and listen to community voices.

It’s hard to narrow down the many takeaways from this experience, but a stand out for me is that community is at the heart of everything the team does.

As a funder, being tuned in to local needs is essential and grant funding should be flexible and respond to changes in and around our communities. I saw this in action; from giving unrestricted organisational funding during the cost-of-living crisis, to the creation and promotion of funding for community cohesion in Tees Valley after the riots in 2024. It became evident during this time that those working on the ground know best what their communities need are, and I learnt that it is essential for funders to listen and respond to this.

I would like to thank the incredible Point North team for making this experience so enjoyable and formative. Creating a warm and welcoming environment from the start, they sparked my interest in grant making and have been key in both my professional and personal development. They provided the support I needed to grow in the role, thank you for sharing your knowledge, skills and passion for change with me.

If it wasn’t for this opportunity, I wouldn’t have realised what grant making as a career has to offer, the way it allows you to connect with so many unique projects and organisations all working to make a difference. I’m taking this with me as I move on to my next chapter as a Funding Officer for the London Marathon Foundation, where I will be supporting the delivery of grants to sports and physical activity projects!