Work experience at The Bridge Group

It was a shame that my Bridge Group experience was only a brief two days, however it is most certainly one that I gained an awful lot from.

Upon arrival I was warmly welcomed by Lucy (@tbglucy), and then Nikki (@tbgnikki), and then, of course, the rest of the team. My mum soon realised I was in just about the warmest, safest and professional hands possible, and promptly left before my levels of embarrassment reached an all time high.

I was handed a full plan, every minute accounted for, both days. It was then I realised I was certainly not a tea boy, as I feared after hearing stories of my friends work experience. In fact, I didn’t make a cup of tea the whole time I was there. Oops.

The first formal thing I did was have an in-depth chat with Nikki regarding PR in general, my plans for the future, and how she could make my time with them worthwhile and give me some ‘hands-on’ experience of writing articles.

I then met the team. From design to marketing to PR, someone from each area gave up their own time, despite having shed loads of work to be getting on with, to show a boy who they’ve barely even met what their job entails, and briefly how to do it. In most cases however it was in one ear and straight out the other. Sorry Scott, I did try. A big thank you to JB, Roni and Scott for letting me do that.

With that out of the way, I knew the writing side of PR was what I wanted to do, the other areas were far too complicated, and it was time for me to get down to some work. I was given three newsletter articles, ranging from older people using the internet, to writing the text for community fun days. I was slightly nervous: would my writing style be okay, would I actually be any good, and would I make the 140 word boundary!

After lunch I cracked on again, and by the end of the first day I’d finished my first three tasks. After a long, tiring day it was time to leave, and I awaited my de-brief with Nikki in the morning.

Nine am and I was back. I met rest of the team that had been away yesterday and I was introduced to Sarah, Anna, Ian and John. I printed off my work, and handed it to Nikki. It was like giving an essay to my teacher, except this teacher was nicer, made cups of tea and was far more smiley. At this point, I honestly was worried there would be endless pen marks, scribbles and annotations on my fairly useless first attempt. However, I was told I had a nice writing style perfect for a newsletter which was the publication that I was writing for, and yes there were a few changes here and there but nothing too drastic. Relief. Nikki gave me feedback and things to improve on but I felt good, and more importantly felt like I hadn’t let her, or Anna, down. Next task!

It then got a bit more serious, and rather than cutting down press releases into smaller articles I was given a brief for a press article about a community fun day in Daventry. This entailed making a phone call to one of the organisers, taking notes, and then writing it from scratch. I felt okay coming off the back of my last articles, but still nerves were jangling.

These two press releases took up the rest of the day, but were tasks that I really, really enjoyed receiving feedback on again. There were things to improve on but on the whole loved my two days and thought I performed well.

It was almost time to say goodbye, but not before another of Roni’s cups of tea, and giving Nikki and the team my thank you card and tin of Cadbury Roses.

Overall, The Bridge Group has undoubtedly opened my eyes to the world of PR, giving me skills and tips that I don’t think I’d have received anywhere else. The team are selfless: I was worried that I would be an inconvenience to them and get in the way but they treated me as an equal and made me feel very welcome. I will miss the bridge: the work, Scott and JB’s banter, Val’s singing and Monica’s sandwiches and would once again like to thank them for allowing me to work there, it was a great couple of days.


Ben Cooper
Work experience at The Bridge Group, July 2011.