Maria Thornhill, Ashiana Community Project

"I would like to thank the University staff who created this project, and the Ashiana Community Project Charity, specifically Alison Sharp and Shabana Qureshi for this great opportunity. I am so glad I applied and underwent this experience.

Maria Thornhill

“I am so glad we did end up launching the campaign because it really helped me gain valuable experience about marketing and the use of social media.”

"I applied for 'Up Our Streets' because I really wanted to gain experience in the charity sector, but honestly I wasn’t quite sure exactly what the project would entail. The progression of this project has been about research, understanding and communication to narrow down our task and then to plan how we would get there. I would like to reflect on this process, with emphasis on all the different skills and experiences it helped me develop along the way. 

"When I saw that the project was called ‘Crowdfunding feasibility study’ I didn’t think that we would actually be launching the crowdfunding website ourselves but rather that we would be compiling a report on the effectiveness of a crowdfunding campaign based on evidence from the local community. I am so glad we did end up launching the campaign because it really helped me gain valuable experience about marketing and the use of social media.

"Launching the crowdfunding campaign gave us a sense of achievement because it brought together all the research we had done over the past few weeks. This sense of achievement has given me the confidence that I can succeed at projects like this in the future as I have never done anything like it before. The experience of visiting ACP and learning about what they do was a very valuable experience to me. It helped widen my cultural awareness as well as understanding the aims and values of the people who run this amazing charity so we could see what their expectations were for the project. It taught me that when researching, a connection and understanding like this is key to producing successful results. 

"We visited the charity a number of times throughout this project, but much of the research was done individually. This meant that because there were three of us on the project, we had to effectively divide tasks between members and have great communication. Working on a long term project in a team is not something I often experience in my course so this definitely expanded my teamwork, communication and organisational skills. Although it was sometimes difficult finding time when we were all free to meet, working in a team helped relieve pressure but also enhanced our work as each member’s contribution and perception was unique. 

"Our communication and organisational skills were also tested when we visited with our project lead at the charity. We had to understand what they wanted whilst also gaining from them specific aims and objectives that we were to complete in the weeks to come. Organisation was key in presenting the research we had already completed but also in effectively preparing the questions we needed to plan what to do moving forward. 

"We went from our initial project brief of a crowdfunding feasibility report with vague details about what was to be crowdfunded to researching, publicizing and finally launching a GoFundMe page that will (hopefully) allow ACP to deliver more great community activities!"