Local students from around Morley and Outwood joined Andrea’s office for work experience over the last two weeks to find out more about life in Andrea’s office.
In the first week Andrea and her team were joined by Joe Brady and Jay Oldroyd. In the second week they welcomed Holly Mills, Tom Wilson and Luke Henderson. Joe also went down to London to spend a few days with Andrea’s team in Westminster.
The students took part in a variety of activities including writing press releases, office administration and casework. In Westminster Joe has the chance to sit in the Gallery in the House of Commons and sit in committees. He also went to meetings that Andrea couldn’t go to and made notes to brief her afterwards. In the second week Holly, Tom and Luke helped to get Morley into shape for the Morley in Bloom competition.
Reflecting on his week Tom Wilson said:
“My work experience in Andrea’s constituency office has provided me with invaluable experience into the day to day work of an MP in their constituency and their constituency team.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed this placement as I felt I was surrounded by people who were willing to aid me with any problems I had and were extremely friendly and welcoming into their work place.
“I felt my questions were answered effectively and with good levels of knowledge and I never felt unwanted. Throughout the week I was provided with stimulating and interesting tasks and activities to do with the best testing my knowledge and my resilience.
“I am extremely grateful for this opportunity provided to me and I would like to thank Andrea, Nick, Ollie and Claire for being so welcoming and considerate for the entire week and not just making me make teas and coffees.”
Holly Mills said:
“I have found this week insightful into how the dealings of a constituency office is managed and run.
“I feel I have used and developed skills in real life situations and this has challenged me to write from a view point that is not necessarily mine, however, still convey a passion within my writing, as if it were my own.
“I have appreciated the criticism of my work, as this allowed me to look at my errors and see where I could improve it, thus making my argument more rounded and stronger. This is something that is not always experience in school environments, so I made a refreshing change to be criticized and made my work better for it.
“I have seen that the tasks vary from day to day, and the skill set that is required for these jobs is diverse.”
Luke Henderson said:
“The team were welcoming and laid-back enough to make my feel relaxed and calm at the office whilst still maintaining a very professional demeanour. They were very friendly and quite entertaining, too.
“It was very interesting to see how politics is handled on a constituency-wide basis. All of the tasks have been interesting and I have always had something to do.
“I have had a great time, and I am sure my friends will be jealous, especially the one who spent three hours on their first day putting stickers on Mr. Men bookmarks…!”