A huge thankyou to Izzy who has just completed her 3 week internship with us at REfUSE. She helped us with our communications, got an insight into our business and finance planning and so much more!

We asked her to write a bit about her experiences below…

“Part way through my second year at Durham University, studying business and management, we were able to study some local businesses in and around Durham, one of these case studies being REfUSE. We got to design and come up with strategies for them to communicate with their audience.

Later, we were then told about the chance to work with some of them on a voluntary internship. I was very kindly offered the opportunity to take place in a 3-week marketing communications internship at REfUSE. During this I was able to work with some of the most interesting and friendly people who welcomed me so quickly.

Along the way I was made more aware of the issue of food waste, something I hadn’t known the true impacts of. I had no idea that 6.6 million tonnes of UK household food are wasted, or that avoidable food waste generates 19 million tonnes of greenhouse gases over its lifetime. Neither did I know there were so many great organisations, such as REfUSE, that were tackling this issue.

Another thing that amazed me about REfUSE, was that every volunteer is so committed and interested in REfUSE, and it was clear that it means a lot to not only the volunteers, but the community around it. This made it all the more an exciting place to be involved in.” 

“Across the three weeks I was part of a number of jobs and projects, including working on a Volunteer stories project, creating content for Waste Not Boxes, and helping decorate signs to spread the importance of REfUSE in and around the café. I got to work with some incredible people and learnt a lot about the impact this organisation has on the community around it.

All aspects of working at REfUSE have been so interesting and exciting to be involved in. And it’s safe to say I’ll definitely be back to either volunteer or just to visit and grab a great lunch!”

Thankyou for all your help Izzy, we look forward to seeing you again soon!