Our Voices: Amy’s Research Role

Posted on: November 4, 2020, by :

Amy Wright, the Chairperson of our Board of Directors, has secured a new role as a research intern to Jeremy Balfour, an MSP for the Lothian region.

Amy applied for this role through Inclusion Scotland, an organisation which represents disabled people and has a mission to achieve positive change through policy and practise.

Amy’s new role involves completing her own research project on prevalent issues while learning about the day-to-day running of a working constituency office.  This is a great chance for Amy to build on her research skills that she has gained both as a student at Open University and as the Chairperson of The Usual Place.  Amy sees this as an opportunity to begin a career in research and policymaking.

Although she has only completed two days so far, she has already begun work on a small-scale research project.  For this project, she has placed focus on Fair Start Scotland, a flexible employment support service which helps people prepare for employment.  The question Amy asks during her research s ‘why the uptake of disabled people is declining year by year’.

One of the things Amy enjoys most about the role is putting her skills and knowledge from her degree and her experience as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors to use in another way.

Amy said:

“This is the chance and opportunity I have been waiting for.  If anything good can come from the situation we are in, it is all for the better.”

Amy, and everyone at The Usual Place, can’t wait to see what the next 5 months will bring!

 

Well done Amy!