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The Gregson Family Foundation is hiring a new Policy and Advocacy Intern

The Gregson Family Foundation are pleased to share the following Role Description for a new Policy and Advocacy Intern.

 

This is an exciting opportunity to gain hands-on experience in policy and advocacy, while contributing to work that supports better outcomes for young people.

Interested in finding out more about what the role involves? Read about a previous intern’s journey and the impact they made as part of the team here.

 

Job Title: The Gregson Family Foundation Policy and Advocacy Intern

Reporting to: The Gregson Family Foundation Chair, David Gregson. Working closely, as appropriate, with #BeeWell local and national teams (see below)

The role-holder will be contracted by The Gregson Family Foundation.

Location: Flexible (with remote working), easy access to London an advantage

Contract: Flexible. We are seeking a full-time intern. The contract will be for a six-month period to end March 2027.

Salary range: Up to £2,500 per month for six months, depending upon experience and time availability.

The Gregson Family Foundation (GFF) is a small family foundation focussed on grant-giving in three areas: the environment, young people in Britain and social justice. In recent years, the Foundation has devoted significant time, and the majority of its grant-giving, to the #BeeWell programme.

#BeeWell was co-founded in 2019 by the University of Manchester, GFF and Anna Freud. It is a pioneering programme that seeks to make young people’s wellbeing everybody’s business. The programme uses a co-created wellbeing survey, delivered through secondary schools, to measure young people’s wellbeing; publishes the results privately to schools and publicly by where young people live; drives action across the school system, local government (including the health system), the voluntary sector and young people themselves; and celebrates young people’s wellbeing.

In its first five years of delivery, some 320 secondary schools have participated in the programme across both Greater Manchester and Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton. Around 250,000 surveys have already been completed in these two areas alone since inception. A coalition of approximately 150 organisations has committed to responding to the results, with a large number of partners already having done so.

This internship will work with David Gregson, in particular, to both undertake specific GFF funded projects and also support #BeeWell’s efforts to expand its footprint and influence policy affecting young people’s wellbeing.

Overall objectives for the post

  1. Support GFF’s policy and delivery work as it seeks to effect national change around young people’s mental health and wellbeing, complementing the work of the #BeeWell national team.
  2. Work closely with the #BeeWell local and national teams, and the #BeeWell founding partners, to assist with, in particular and where helpful, #BeeWell’s wider policy and advocacy work.

 

Specific duties of the post holder

  1. Keep up to date with policy and political developments and develop expertise as required. This might involve contact with e.g. MPs offices, select committees, APPGs, think tanks etc.
  2. Execute administrative functions (e.g. meeting notes and follow-up emails) as needed and requested
  3. Support, as necessary, GFF funded programmatic work across Greater Manchester
  4. Work with, coordinate and contribute to new research being started in the Autumn by a GFF funded Research Fellow. In particular, this new research will focus on pathways of young people’s engagement with, and disengagement from, education
  5. Support GFF’s growing focus on the Isle of Wight as a specific area that could become an exemplar of what is possible
  6. Support continuing policy work by GFF and #BeeWell with, as examples, The Independent Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes, the current Milburn Review, the Department for Education and others
  7. Assist the Chair with writing papers and publications as well as wider social media posts and other broader communication efforts, including possibly podcasts.

 

Broad person specification

The successful applicant should have an understanding of, and empathy with, the issues that young people in England face. An interest in wellbeing, an appreciation of central and local government structures and an interest in national politics and political decision making, would all be helpful.

The postholder should have excellent communication skills (both written and verbal); be comfortable engaging with stakeholders with different interests; be a self-starter but comfortable working as part of a small, close-knit team; be ambitious for the change that we can bring about and be keen and enthusiastic to be a part of that. Good administrative skills (particularly letter/email writing) will be valuable.

The postholder is likely to be a recent (possibly Masters) graduate with an interest in, and experience of, the areas above. Alternatively, they might have some years’ experience across different sectors. We have drafted the role broadly so as to attract candidates at different stages of their careers.

Benefits of the role

Given the interest that the #BeeWell programme has attracted nationally since it was launched across Greater Manchester, the postholder will gain broad experience across local and national government, funders, research organisations, schools, young people, business and the voluntary sector. The role will bring a profile and exposure that is unusual in a fast-paced environment as we seek to build, at pace, upon the exceptional work of our #BeeWell co-founders, the local and national #BeeWell teams and our many partners.

How to apply

To express your interest in this role, please email Frances East on frances@davidjgregson.com with a copy of your cv (or bio) and a covering letter setting out why you are interested in the role. We expect to close the application window by close of business on Monday 10 August, with a view to virtual interviews within the following two weeks, probably at the beginning of week commencing 24 August.

We intend that the successful applicant will, if possible, be available to start around the middle of September.