June 13, 2014, by Christopher Annable
Knowing me, knowing you
This blog entry, from Chris Annable, is the start in a series of posts that will give you a bit more insight into the work of the Access and Communities team. Look out every other week for entries from other team members.
Name: Chris Annable
What do you do? I’m the programme and partnership manager for a European Regional Development funded project (Building Enterprise) based in the Access and Communities team. We offer research focused placement to postgraduates with local social enterprises and third sector organisations in Nottingham. The aim is to offer postgraduates additional employability skills and experience whilst also helping our local community organisations and businesses to grow and develop.
Typically I go out and meet an organisation, undertake a needs analysis and draw up a project brief. Once we’ve agreed on the project we then advertise it through the postgraduate portal, arrange interviews and then support both sides through the project. Placements are usually one day a week over three or four months. l get to be involved with some really interesting projects from researching coeliac disease treatments to scoping out a virtual learning space for disabled young people.
Using ‘rich pictures’ to determine an organisation’s priorities
At the time of writing we are halfway through the project, with 30 postgraduates placed and 10 more in the pipline. We’re also planning a series of masterclasses around technology .
Where do you work ? A20 at Kings Meadow Campus, nice view (watch out for my next post, sort of pictorial history of KMC)
Nice view !
Best thing about your job? Most people run a mile from European funded projects due to their perceived complexity but I like the multi disciplinary approach. One minute your getting to the bottom of complex organisational issue with a social enterprise, the next minute your in the middle of an external audit justifying why and how you paid £5 for a memory stick. I also get meet a lot of very talented students.
Most unusual/strangest job ? During one of the summer holidays at university I worked on a stud farm in Scotland. It involved a lot of intimate contact with horses. l also had my own textile business for 9 years and can make a bra !
How do you relax ? By not working intimately with horses or thinking about European funding…
Tell us a joke ? A friend of mine was recently sacked from his job at Goose Fair. He’s suing for funfair dismissal…
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