BLOG: School Summer Intern Faye Williams writes about her week working for Jenny Gilruth MSP

Published date : 16 Sep 2020

Jenny Gilruth MSP announced her inaugural internship scheme in January with the aim of giving one senior pupil from each high school in her Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency an insight into how a local MSP’s office works.

Although her constituency office remains physically closed due to Covid-19, Jenny was keen to offer the successful applicants the opportunity to join her constituency team as work on behalf of her constituents continues from home. As Jenny is a Living Wage Employer, each intern will receive the living wage for their week’s work.

Glenrothes High School’s Faye Williams was the second intern to join Jenny’s constituency team and here Faye reflects on her week’s internship, which started on Monday 31 August.

Faye’s blog

I want to start off by thanking Jenny and her team for this experience, though different from what was intended it was still interesting and insightful. I was able to see the work done by an MSP in their constituency office. The work completed by Jenny and her team was much more varied and different than I had first believed.

I was able to see the variety of casework that is accomplished by Jenny and her team supporting her local constituents via Zoom, on the phone and over emails. During these meetings, the team where supportive and friendly towards me allowing me to have a great experience. Some of the work I was able to be involved in was supporting and helping constituents, social media posts, press releases, constituency visits and I worked on a campaign task related to childhood obesity and diet.

On Monday, I joined Jenny on her constituency visits around Glenrothes. We visited ADTRA in Auchmuty first where we were able to see the good work that they had been doing support their community during the pandemic including providing starter packs, being a food bank point and helping people to maintain their gardens with their team of volunteers.

Next we went to see a constituent who Jenny had helped followed by Leslie Community Pantry, a community initiative that started during lockdown, who are providing food and other supplies to those in need. It was good see Jenny interacting with her constituents and learning about the work they were doing and how others are benefiting. This was my favourite part of the week overall.

Throughout the week, I learned a lot about the work of an MSP and would like to thank Jenny and her team for allowing me to see and be involved in helping local people. This was a good opportunity and I would advise others to apply for future internships with Jenny’s constituency team as well.

Faye Williams

Local Reporters