How Volunteering Led to a Career at Chelmsford College
With people genuinely being at the heart of Chelmsford College, they’ve started a new Staff Stories series giving prospective students and their families a chance to understand more about what makes the College unique. They started by the sharing the story of Alice King, Learner Experience and Enrichment Manager at Chelmsford College, across their social media platforms.
Alice’s journey certainly marks an interesting one having not intended to originally work in the education sector. From 2012-2015, Alice attended The University of Salford studying Multimedia Journalism, with the aim of becoming a journalist. It was during her second year of university where she had the opportunity to work from home back in Essex where she took up a volunteering role at Chelmsford College. This role involved assisting in the libraries and study centres and remembers one of her first projects being to find specific photos in a large photo album, where she enjoyed the responsibility. It was this role that made Alice realise she liked working in education noting she could relate to the students and their journeys due to being of a similar age, helping her feel like she made an impact.
Upon graduating, Alice undertook her teacher training and went on to teach English at another local Further Education provider. However, having experienced the tight knit community and friendly staff at Chelmsford College, she knew she needed to go back. Alice rejoined the College in 2017 as a Learning Coach, progressing to Senior Learning Coach before becoming Personal Development Coordinator in 2022. Having a personal passion for sustainable fashion, this role allowed Alice to combine her hobbies and career through promoting upcycling at the College. Since then, Alice has progressed through roles including Life Skills and Enrichment Manager to her current position where she now oversees the College’s Renew Sustainable Fashion Shop, where staff and students can swap and donate clothing completely for free.
Aside from the shop, Alice also enjoys her involvement with the College’s ChangeMakers. These are students who volunteer to work on campaigns that benefit the College and the wider local community. One example is their ongoing campaign for safer bus transport. Their work has led to First Essex agreeing to focus on safety for women and review bus timetables to see whether they can better align with college days. As a consequence, Alice’s contribution has been recognised through the College’s internal staff awards, where she has won an award for three consecutive years.
Alice is a fabulous example trying things outside of your comfort zone and coming out of the other side. Had it not been for the early volunteering opportunity, Alice may have never realised education is where her career belongs. Commenting on her staff story, Alice said "I feel incredibly lucky to work in such a rewarding role. My advice to those figuring out their next steps would be to take every opportunity as you never know where it may lead you. I love my job and feel honoured to feature as a Chelmsford College staff story."