Bethany is from Australia and moved to London in 2021 with her family. Her background is in Public Relations, working mostly for consumer brands, with a bachelor’s degree in communications. However, in her twenties, Bethany quickly realised that her passions lay within the charity sector which resulted in her working for multiple well-known charities including The NSPCC in London and St John’s Ambulance in Australia.
Bethany likes having variety in her life and keeping busy with varied jobs and volunteering. During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her three children and husband as well as travelling, trying new foods, reading, and exercising.
After having her children, Bethany decided to become a group fitness instructor and a volunteer in a charity. “I had never exercised before having kids but found I really enjoyed it! I work currently at an F45 gym in London and run an outdoor boot camp group too. I also started volunteering with a charity called Unfold and I mentor an asylum seeker who I meet with once a week.”
When asked about what made her want to apply to First Give Bethany replied: “Once all my children were at school, I decided I wanted to do something more with my time, especially working again for a charity. I sat down and googled ‘charity jobs part time’ and this was the first position which popped up! The words which jumped out at me were ‘empowering students to care about social issues’, ‘term time only’ and ‘freelance’. This is something I could do but still fit in around my kids easily.”
After reading the job description Bethany was even more drawn to First Give and our mission. Bethany had experiences running fitness classes for high school students and volunteering as a Primary Ethnics teacher, a programme that challenged students to develop critical thinking skills about social issues. Therefore, she was excited about working with young people again, and believed that her varied skills developed both in her professional and personal life would make her a perfect candidate for the role.
When asked what she liked most about being a First Give facilitator, Bethany replied: “There are so many parts to being a facilitator that I didn’t expect to enjoy so much. From meeting the lovely, hard-working teachers to winning over disengaged students!”
However, one aspect stands out to her the most; seeing the confidence of students grow after they have had their Presentation Skills Workshop. “It’s great when the students have really taken on board all the feedback and they step up on the day. I find I get a lump in my throat at every final!”
In addition to the rewarding feeling of seeing students’ confidence grow Bethany told us that she also loves the drum roll at a final to reveal the winner. “Nothing beats the sound of the reaction of the winning group!”
