International Paralympic Committee

Moving to Bonn, Germany in July 2019, I joined up with the International Paralympic Committee on an initial short-term contract which now stretches to over two years with the organisation.

My initial position as Digital Production Coordinator aw me lead on the activation of the Chasing Greatness video series with worldwide Paralympic partner, Allianz. This series saw me liaise with the partner themselves and external production agencies, and most notably allowed the opportunity for me to work as a solitary member of IPC staff on location across the world. The series allowed me to work closely with Paralympians on shoots in Johannesburg, Athens, Porto and more locations.

Following the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, my position slightly adjusted to Digital Activations, with my key role within 2020 the finalisation of Chasing Greatness, supporting the content team before ultimately project managing the launch of the IPC's first ever podcast, multiple-award winning podcast A Winning Mindset. Again working with partner Allianz and a UK based production agency, I led on the overall management of recordings, edits and paid media advertising campaigns. The series was recognised globally with Best Branded Podcast at the Webbys, Best Podcast at the Digiday Media Europe Awards and Best Podcast at the Sport Industry Awards.

In August and September 2021 I worked from the Paralympic Village in Tokyo, delivering partner activations with Samsung (Samsung Paralympic Vloggers) and Visa (The Visa Award). I acted as project manager for both global activations, liaising with international marketing groups to deliver activations which reached a global audience of over 50 million people. Additionally I also led on relationships with TikTok, Giphy and Facebook to deliver the biggest ever digitally involved Paralympic Games.

The University of Sheffield

Working at the University from January 2018 - June 2019, my position saw me work within the digital team, with the focus of my role on social media. A day to day life for me consisted of monitoring social media, sharing content and creating pieces for university-wide consumption. In comparison to my previous position, TUOS' combined social media audience is upwards of 275,000.

I was able to lead on media campaigns for major events such as Varsity and summer graduations, creating videos and content to promote events, whilst also providing live social media coverage. The position has also provided the opportunity to interview a number of diverse individuals, from David Blunkett and Lord Mayor, Magid Magid, to The Wire's Dominic West and Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill.

Much of my role was taken up with content creation, regularly filming academics from across the University to find out about exciting research, before a quick turnaround and edit saw short-form content shared across our social media pages. I experienced working with external clients, designing ideas for films to promote more extensive research. Primarily, I was responsible for the following:

Content Creation (Filming and editing)
Monitoring a range of social media channels
Writing copy for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram Stories
Working and leading on major projects across the University
Working with a number of departments to formalise ideas and produce content plans
Social media advertising campaigns

During my position I also transformed the tone of communications across TUOS channels, engaging a younger audience of current students, generating viral opportunities and doubling engagements on all platforms from the time of my arrival to the month of my departure.

Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport

Based at SportPark in Loughborough, LRS are located in one of the most thriving sports offices in Britain, which also houses NGB’s such as Volleyball England, Swim England and Youth Sport Trust.`

My role with LRS saw me work primarily in social media, scheduling and uploading content to all the key social media channels. I was also given free rein in terms of content production, something which allowed me to do new things that helped to change some of the output. My job role largely consisted of uploading news and events to the website, but through more light-hearted written pieces, new visitors to the website were able to learn more about LRS as well as what sport can do for them.

My role with LRS provided me with the chance to increase my abilities on programmes such as Adobe Premiere Pro, but it also adapted me to work in event management on major events such as School Games Championships. Not only did this see me work in a media based role, but there was also the responsibility to help with set-up, ensure things all run smoothly and act as a liaison point if needed.

FC Halifax Town

My longest placement during university was the 19 months I spent with FC Halifax Town. Having joined just into the 2014/15 season, I was lucky enough to be able to follow through that role for the following 2015/16 campaign.

With the side in the National League throughout my placement, I followed the club along with the rest of the media team up and down the country, following home and away. Locations as far as Aldershot on a Tuesday night, or taking photos on a cold November afternoon in Gateshead. March 2016 also saw me spend consecutive Tuesday nights at Braintree, Bromley and Torquay.

During the second season, I commentated 15 times, doing so either for the official paid website service (radio commentary) or for the highlights which are published a day later. These games were hugely enjoyable and have improved my ability to produce description no end. At the same time, I have become a much more fluent and confident speaker.

In addition to commentary, I also conducted pre-match radio shows as both a lead and a guest. This was all accompanied by interviews both in person and over the phone. There were instances where interviewing was a real challenge, particularly due to the form of the team. Speaking to the captain after a 6-3 home defeat was tough, as was speaking to Matty Brown (a central defender) after conceding seven at home to Cheltenham. The toughest of which though was after the side were relegated on the final day of the season, with players visibly distressed and unwilling to be a part of the post-match ritual.

Writing for both the website and the matchday programme (where I had my own column) took up large chunks of my out of university time too, meaning I was always doing some sort of work. My writing improved throughout the placement, producing match reports, previews and general pre-match content to heighten the excitement around games. Programme articles too gave me a chance to perfect more forms of writing, whether it be injecting some humour or improving my opinion pieces.

Planet Rugby

In October 2014, I was lucky enough to come through a lengthy selection process and become a paid writer for Planet Rugby website. Although by this point I already had considerable work experience under my belt, getting this role was incredibly pleasing because it meant that I was now being paid to produce work, the first time I had this.

My role saw me act as a reporter, observing games and producing match reports on the final whistle which are then sent out, often onto the homepage. With a Twitter following of almost 70’000, PR is one of the most visited sites in Rugby Union, an ideal place to write.

Starting with one game a weekend, I was then able to progress in my first season, and by April was often covering four or more games over the weekend. Writing so many reports may sound repetitive, but I found it to be the perfect way to improve my writing and reporting, something which has happened as the season has gone on. It is also my first time of using different systems to submit work, rather than simply emailing off Word documents.

Throughout the first season, more opportunities came up, one of which saw me provide live coverage to potentially hundreds of thousands across the world. Planet Rugby were once again asked to provide live minute by minute updates of the 2015 6 Nations Championship, and the opportunity was put to me to be a part of this. Having jumped at the chance, I was lucky enough to cover three games for the official 6 Nations website.

The first of which was the opening game between Wales and England, a daunting task, especially given the fact I spent the first 45 minutes calling it the Six Nations rather than 6. I covered two more ties later in the tournament, and by the end wished I had more because it was such an enjoyable way to work, and especially to know that people were reading my work as it went out.