This month we welcomed Robert Clifford to team Switch as our new Mentoring Lead. Robert is joining our Primary Team and will be working across primary and secondary projects – including a large scale mentoring project. Find out more about Robert below.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
Hello! My name is Robert. I’d like to think I’ve had a varied career so far, albeit in a serendipitous way! Not long after University I found myself working for a small charity supporting projects in Ethiopia. That took me to Ireland, Canada and Australia managing their fundraising and grants. By this time I’d caught the bug for travel and ‘international development’ and so have always enjoyed working with new people on new projects. I’ve always had an interest in education and in the recent past have volunteered as a mentor alongside developing learning and development programmes in the office. I’ve just finished my Post Graduate Certificate in Education and I’m really excited to have the chance to combine mentoring and education with The Switch.
Where did you work before The Switch?
In 2021/2022, I was working on my teacher training. Before that I spent six years with a consultancy who carry out a range of public health projects in Africa and South East Asia. One of my main responsibilities was supporting hundreds of small civil society groups to access capacity building resources. I co-designed and developed www.amplifychangelearn.org to provide digestible and easy-to-access guidance to deal with a range of business challenges.
What are you looking forward to working at The Switch?
I’m really excited to be working in education, both primary and secondary. I’m a firm believer in mentoring as an invaluable tool for building confidence and resilience (in people of any age!).
Any hobbies?
Being active! I’ll try my hand at almost anything sporty but particularly fond of tennis, football, running, swimming and cycling. I love food, music (I dabble on the guitar) and the occasional dog-sitting.
What is one thing you have learnt over this very strange few years?
I’ve learned that beards and masks are not best friends…
Posted March 10, 2023
This month we welcomed Asad Jamil to team Switch as our new Alumni Project Coordinator in our Secondary Team. Asad joins at a crucial time for our Alumni project as we recently launched our Alumni Portal. Asad joins us as part of the Jack Petchey Internship Programme with 30 other interns from different youth organisations […]
Posted November 28, 2022
Here at The Switch we love reading the letters between our Writing Partners. This month we featured a wonderful letter one of our volunteers received from their partner at St Mary and St Michael Catholic Primary School in our newsletter, Heads Up. The pupil’s letter also included a chapter of the pupil’s story about a […]
Posted October 19, 2022
This month we welcomed Claire Latham to team Switch as our new Administrator in our Primary Team. Find out more about Claire below. Tell us a bit about yourself? I’m returning to work after a career break spent looking after my little boy who is nearly 4 but most of my career has been spent […]
