To mark National Work Life Week, we’re sharing ‘Week in the Life of’ stories from our colleagues. Grab a cuppa and have read of what a week for Community Development Officer, Nicole Abela is like.
Monday
I started my week off by going to the gym around 6am before work as it sets me up for the day. I checked my work calendar on my phone just to see if I had any meetings out of Southampton – when I work from home, I tend to start my working day between 8:00am - 8:30am. I first checked in with the residents and community groups I work with for any project updates from the weekend and to see if they need anything else from me for the week ahead.
One thing that made my morning even sweeter was that one of the community groups I work with had successfully been awarded £2,500 funding – which Abri applied for on their behalf. I then checked in with the coaches of my children’s sports session that runs on Mondays to make sure that the session is ok to go ahead, and I then actioned emails in my inbox.
Tuesday
On Tuesday morning I had a virtual meeting via Teams with Laverstock and Ford Parish Council who we are collaborating with on a community growing project in our Community Investment Project (CIP) zone in Salisbury.
When that finished, I then travelled from Southampton to Amesbury where we had a health and wellbeing meeting/event at Evergreen court. I met with various partners including the Wiltshire Council Health and Wellbeing Councillor and members of Wiltshire Health. We went over our focus of health and wellbeing in the area and I was able to share some information on upcoming projects and make some good new connections. I had a nice agile start to my working week - a mix between working in the community and working from home.
Wednesday
I was working from home this day, so I used the day to prepare for three upcoming projects I will be delivering this October. I submitted design briefs to our internal Comms team to get some lovely advertisement created, confirmed partners that will be in attendance and made a start on risk assessments. During the day I had various virtual meetings with different partners to keep everyone updated on the projects and what they needed to do. A lot of my job involves speaking with different people on a daily basis, which I enjoy, as it’s a great way to meet new faces.
Thursday
I used the morning to complete my 121 notes while waiting in for a delivery of event materials which I would use for an event on Saturday. I then travelled to Collins House to pick up a Gazebo and spent the afternoon working from the office, which was nice. Two of my colleagues were also there, so we used the collaboration space to work together, and I got to see some other colleagues I hadn’t seen in ages!
Friday
I had a 121 with my manager via Teams in the morning. I then checked in with a resident in Salisbury who runs a project for me on Fridays to make sure everything was going smoothly and then I took a few calls from residents that had some questions.
Friday was particularly busy as we were supporting a community gardening group with their open event on Saturday, so it was just a matter of making sure everything was in place for the event. In between meetings and calls I made a start on my CIP review and delivery plans which took me to the end of the day.
