Where are you originally from? – Poland

Placement Job Title – PR Co-ordinator at VisitBritain

Briefly describe your placement experience so far – VisitBritain is the national tourism agencyfor the UK and is responsible for marketing Great Britain globally. My role is to support our London and overseas offices, such as USA, China or Brazil, to help them deliver higher volumes of editorial content and media visits in the UK. That means a lot of researching, reporting and monitoring on a daily basis. It definitely was slightly overwhelming in the first few weeks but I’m lucky enough to work with a group of amazing individuals who are always very helpful and ready to answer any questions I have.

As soon as I got a better understanding of my job and regular tasks, I started to receive additional projects to work on, including supporting a press visit of a Swedish journalist in London in autumn. Currently, I’ve been facilitating conversations between destinations and a journalist who is working on the article ahead of the Royal Wedding.

These are just snippets of my time at VisitBritain. Tourism is an extremely broad industry, and I still find it fascinating how diversified are ways to promote Britain – one minute you are immersed in the magical world of Harry Potter, and a bit later you need to focus on the royal traditions from Buckingham Palace.

It has been nearly half a year since I joined this amazing team but it is nearly unbelievable how much I have learnt both about Britain and public relations. I regularly get chances to meet other professionals from this field or visit new places and that just confirms that I will never be bored at VB. 

How did you get involved with the Emily Ash Trust?

Among other things, I find projects like RAG at Bournemouth University really inspirational and motivating. This has made me think that my placement year should not be only about my work experience (which is the obvious priority) and enjoying my time away from essays and assignments. I wanted to do something extra that would be also beneficial for others. I had a few ideas and it led me to checking out some local charities that I could get involved with. These were mostly small organisations that cannot afford advertising or other forms of more spectacular promotion. And this is how I came across the Emily Ash Trust which encouraged people to join their event in May that would involve a sponsored skydive. The idea of jumping out of a plane has been in my head for a really long time (those who know me know that I love adrenaline!) so I familiarised myself with the aim of the charity, its background, help it provides etc. For example, I found out that each member of staff at Emily Ash Trust works on a voluntary basis so this ensured me that I would be genuinely happy to support them.

What is the aim of the charity?

The Emily Ash Trust was initially set up to raise awareness of the need for bone marrow donors, but the charity has evolved and now it supports families who have a child, teenager or young adult with cancer. However, being aware of the enormous strain put on all members of the family during the treatment, both emotional and financial, the Emily Ash Trust aims to provide a relief for the entire family.

What are you hoping to do for them, so your upcoming challenge?

As aforementioned, I am going to do a tandem skydive on the 5^th of May. If I manage to raise £395 in total, I will jump out of a plane at 10,000ft, freefall at 125mph for around 30 seconds and then hope that the parachute opens!

Why are you asking for support?

Usually I’m not likely to ask for help but fundraising is not something that I can do alone and my goal can be only achieved with the support of other people. If you cannot donate, spreading a word would be equally helpful. By doing a skydive jump in May obviously I want to help the Emily Ash Trust, but also promote the idea of registration as potential bone marrow donors. I also hope my activity will be a little reminder for others that everyone in every moment can make a difference.

Link to my fundraising page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/weronikaw