AVUK’s Richard and James take us through A Day in the Life of being on a secondment posting from the Civil Service at AVUK.

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Richard Moody provides project management for the stakeholder engagement programme, focusing on AVUK’s business case, consensus statement and training for the alumni network.

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My day starts pretty early, I go to the gym at 6:00 am so I am up at 5:30 am. I get dressed, brush my teeth and have a swift black coffee before setting off. After the gym, I drop into a coffee shop near the coast, grab another coffee and often take some nice scenic photos to share with colleagues. Recently we have been encouraging the team to share photos while they are outdoors to promote the benefits it can have on mental health and wellbeing.

 

Once I’m back home and showered, I log on to my work laptop at around 8:15 am to glance at my emails before joining the ‘breakfast club’ meeting at 8:30 am. This is a great chance to have a good mix of social conversation as well as for clinicians to discuss their work. I’ve found that in my short time here I’ve really learnt a lot through the informal conversations that take place in these morning meetings. 

After the breakfast meeting, I stay on the call with Anita, our CEO, and Frances, one of our clinical leads. We have a meeting at 10:00am with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), so we briefly discuss our approach to the call to make sure it is as effective as possible. After making sure I’ve updated Anita and Frances about the participants and the purpose of the discussion, I join my next call. 

The next meeting is a short one with James and Chelsie to discuss setting up an anonymous survey as part of our diversity and inclusion work strategy. James is a Project Manager and Chelsie is the Communication and Marketing Manager at AVUK, who handily has previous experience in setting up internal anonymous surveys.

 

I then have the meeting with RCSLT, where Anita explains the work of AVUK and we discuss the potential for presenting at the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Speech and Language difficulties that RCSLT run the secretariat for. We also discuss further engagement opportunities with the government and working collaboratively with RCSLT in the future. Overall, it’s a very positive meeting and we’re looking forward to working together. 

I have a quick lunch break before joining a leadership personality feedback call. This is part of the civil service ‘Step into Leadership’ programme that I participate in as part of their graduate scheme. This is a useful and challenging session that focuses on self-awareness and understanding your own personality. 

After this, I receive some positive correspondence from an MP’s office welcoming a conversation with us. I spend the rest of the afternoon setting up the meeting, which gives us a great opportunity to discuss the work AVUK does and gain support for our mission. This was a very positive way to end my day at work!

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James Cahalane provides project management to the operations teams, focusing on the company-wide transformation to a cloud platform and mapping out the new normal for work life at AVUK.

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Most days at AVUK start with putting a record on (absolutely essential to working from home) and scanning through any news articles relevant to our area of work. It’s really interesting to stay informed of a topic I had previously little experience with and it helps me to further appreciate the work done across AVUK. Typically, I then have meetings in the morning, particularly concerning AVUK’s transition to a cloud platform and also its large-scale diversity and inclusion transformation. I always enjoy these as it makes working from home more personal, and is the closest thing to an office atmosphere you can get!

I spend most of the morning getting on with bits of work for these projects, checking in with colleagues across the entire organisation. The great bit about these roles is the responsibility I’m given to lead or co-lead on these projects – and the opportunity to work with the Senior Management Team. I’ve gained a lot of experience when it comes to driving my own areas of work, resolving issues when they arrive, and with the ins and outs of working for a charity.

For lunch, I try and get myself out of the house, even if it’s just going for a walk or nipping to the supermarket. I’m currently in an AVUK Whatsapp group used to share pictures of what’s going on in our lives, so I’m often on the lookout for a photo opportunity like a cool view. Unfortunately, North London isn’t quite as scenic as Newcastle or Walton-on-the-Naze, where my colleagues live, so quite often my efforts are left in the dust!

In the afternoon I like to split up my work (time permitting) to make sure I address each of my projects every day. I go over my requirement to review AVUK’s risk strategy – something always best left until after lunch with a refreshed pair of eyes. This has been a great opportunity for me to develop more of my Project Management skillset, and further understand the running of a non-profit organisation such as Auditory Verbal UK.

I always wrap up the day by making sure I’m all set for tomorrow’s meetings, and have any final chats on Teams with my colleagues. Each day is always rewarding here – not just for my own development but also for the nature of the work we do and its importance to our families.

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