An internship with impact: Harry Wates

From Connection Crew’s first job with Wates – a site office move way back in 2010 – it was clear that there was potential for growth into construction. 10 years later, and post-pandemic, we’re thrilled to be benefitting from ASSETS – Wates’ six month Social Enterprise Business Mentoring programme – which supports organisations like ours to scale in the sector.

A unexpected and very welcome outcome of our participation in the ASSETS programme was having Harry Wates come and join us on an internship during the summer of 2021.

Harry, who’s currently studying at Edinburgh University, started his experience with the same manual training as all the crew undertake on arrival, learning the technicalities of deck lifts, climbing ladders and dealing with cables, before heading straight out on site to a live client job.

But it was his support of the operations team back at head office that enabled Connection Crew to run its first Employment Academy training programme since the pandemic struck 18 months ago.

Harry was tasked with contacting Connection Crew’s local authority and charity partners and coordinating the recruitment of candidates for the three-day Academy. The Academy programme is designed to support those with a history of homelessness back into regular work by equipping participants with fundamental skills in time and financial management, as well as training in the practical aspects of crewing; those who pass the course are guaranteed an interview with Connection Crew. Harry also supported the operations manager with the logistics and deliverables of the day itself. ‘It was really great to meet the candidates and their job coaches after speaking with them,’ he says, ‘and I really hope it works out for them, there were some great candidates.’

Harry was also able to get stuck into Connection Crew’s plans for Net Zero 2025, supporting the team with desk research and kickstarting small but significant changes for the office.

In the video below, he summarises his experience, calling out the positivity and teamwork that characterises Connection Crew; ‘Working as a team is what makes Connection Crew what it is. Everyone’s got such an obvious value to the team and when you combine all those roles together, it works like a dream,’ he says. ‘The atmosphere in the office is so positive, everyone’s trying to offer solutions, not problems, and the attitude to keep going and get things spot on is infectious.’

We wish Harry all the best with his studies, and look forward to seeing where his career takes him.