This document discusses internships and volunteering in the third sector. It notes that internships are important for young people and graduates to gain work experience, but that charities are not obligated to pay interns. It raises questions about whether unpaid internships take advantage of job scarcity and whether charities would need paid workers to do interns' work. The document advocates for charities to critically examine their internship programs and ensure a balance of needs. It concludes that how the sector addresses entry points into careers will impact workforce diversity and ability to support diverse communities.

1. Interns
and
volunteering
a
view
from
BME
3rd
Sector
Kunle
Olulode
CEO
Voice4change
England

2. Interns
&
volunteers

3. A
triple
intern

4. Why
is
it
important
• One
of
the
main
pathways
into
work
for
young
people
and
graduates
• At
a
Eme
when
chariEes
face
increasing
financial
pressure
and
there
are
more
and
more
unemployed
graduates,
internships
benefit
both
the
charity
and
interns.
On
the
face
of
it,
it
seems
like
a
win-­‐win.
• ChariEes
are
not
obligated
to
pay
interns
as
they
oKen
fall
under
the
category
of
‘voluntary
worker’
not
good
for
BME
chariEes?
• Guardian,
quote
“You
have
to
be
rich
to
work
for
charity
now”

5. QuesEons
we
need
to
think
about
as
a
sector
(Carl
Roper
TUC)
Ethics
and
Interns
paper
asks
a
series
of
criEcal
quesEons
that
organisaEons
should
ask
themselves
when
implemenEng
an
internship
programme:
•
“are
your
own
values
being
compromised
by
taking
advantage
of
job
scarcity?”,
•
“are
you
sure
you
have
the
right
balance
of
your
needs
and
theirs?”
•
“if
you
didn’t
have
an
intern
would
you
need
a
paid
worker
to
do
their
work?”
•
and
“is
the
availability
of
unpaid
interns
distorEng
your
volunteer
policy?”

6. V4CE
CEO
Kunle
Olulode,
Yasmin
Begum
and
Development
Officer
Saqib
Deshmukh

7. Last
thoughts
How
is
our
sector
going
to
look
in
future?
We
think
there
is
a
direct
connecEon
between
the
entry
points
into
a
career
in
a
charity
and
having
a
workforce
that
reflects
the
populaEon
and
perhaps
more
importantly,
the
internaEonal
and
local
communiEes
we
support.