50 Years, 50 Faces: Victoria:
My name is Victoria and I’m the Digital Marketing and Communications Officer at the Renewal Programme. I currently live in Lewisham but have links to the Newham area. My background lies in music journalism, PR and communications and when I’m not working, I’m usually at home with my cat, Scampi!
I’ve got friends in the Newham area (Forest Gayte Pride and She.Her.They.Them) and have spent a lot of time at Tracks, Fiore and the Holly Tree pub.
I happened to stumble across the vacancy for Renewal Programme on CharityJob in September 2020 and quickly applied; I originally had plans to move to Newham, however as I got the good news about being successful for the job, I found a new flat in Lewisham so although my commute is quite long, everything worked out in the end.
The Renewal Programme’s values are something that originally drew me into wanting to apply for the role. Charities can often have quite vague values and I felt RP’s were strong and each service perfectly encompasses each one.
As an employer, RP also uses those values to ensure staff feel welcome, supported and cared for. Everyone is easy to communicate with and I felt extremely welcomed when I joined the organisation. Over the last two years, I’ve enjoyed working with external organisations such as Khulisa, Bonny Downs Community Association, DrumWorks, 34SP, Newham Voices and several local businesses. I’m really looking forward to expanding on this in future.
Supported Housing is probably the project I feel most connected to; homelessness is something that could happen to anyone and whilst I’m incredibly grateful not to have experienced it, I’m aware it could potentially happen at any time. I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know the residents and the staffing team, something which I’m extremely grateful for.
That being said, I work closely with each department in the organisation, especially Fundraising (our departments were created at the same time), so it’s been really lovely laying some foundations over the last two years.
Victoria, Digital Marketing and Communications Officer
