Children in Scotland partnership helps graduate thrive through internship

A partnership with The Open University (OU) in Scotland has helped children’s charity Children in Scotland find the right intern for their project needs and given an OU graduate invaluable work experience.    

In November 2023, the OU in Scotland and leading charity Children in Scotland signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work in partnership to improve the lives of children and young people.

When Children in Scotland mentioned they were looking to recruit an intern to work on a project to update, organise and raise awareness about the organisation’s Evidence Bank – a key online collection of direct quotes from children and young people on a wide range of subjects – the OU in Scotland was on hand to help.

‘Good fit’

Parisa Shirazi, Senior Policy, Projects and Participation Officer at Children in Scotland, (pictured top left) explains: “It was extremely helpful having the OU’s Careers and Employability Services find intern candidates and collate applications. This ensured that we were getting applications from engaged candidates whose interests were relevant to our work.”

“The OU were in regular communication leading up to the recruitment opportunity,” she adds. “They supported us in creating the job advert and job description to ensure that the intern, and both organisations, were a good fit for each other. The alignment of needs had to be central to the success of the internship.”

After graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree from OU, Amanda Devi Fakeerah (pictured top right) spotted the intern opportunity in the OU’s careers email update.

The internship was a perfect fit for Amanda, who already had significant experience working in communications and the third sector, including volunteering as a Specialist Research Advocate for a charity providing voices for people and families of children with disabilities. She is also sole carer to her son.

It was extremely helpful having the OU’s Careers and Employability Services find intern candidates and collate applications."
Parisa Shirazi, Children in Scotland

She says: “The work of the Evidence Bank really resonated with me. It’s underpinned by Article 12 of The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – children’s right to be heard.

“Children’s rights and amplifying voices that often go unheard are central to the advocacy work I’ve done, so there was a natural alignment. I also saw it as an opportunity to bring my research, communications and legal skills into a new context within the children’s sector.”

‘Transformative’

Discussing the internship, Parisa says: “Amanda’s internship was a great experience for our organisation.”

While for Amanda, she comments: “The internship gave me the chance to apply everything I’d been learning with the OU in a real-world setting and to contribute meaningfully from day one. If you’ve got skills and experience alongside your studies – whether that’s from volunteering, work, or life – an internship is a brilliant way to bring it all together. The OU’s support in connecting students with these opportunities shouldn’t be underestimated.”

"The OU opened a door for me that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. As someone who didn’t have the opportunity for further education growing up, being able to study for a law degree while managing my other responsibilities has been transformative. The internship programme is a great example of how the OU goes beyond just teaching – it actively creates pathways into professional experience,” she adds.

The six-month internship was funded through the OU’s Access and Participation Plan (APP).

The internship gave me the chance to apply everything I’d been learning with the OU in a real-world setting and to contribute meaningfully from day one."
Amanda Devi Fakeerah, OU Graduate and Children in Scotland Intern

“We simply would not have been able to offer nor support an internship without the funding,” Parisa says. “It not only provided that great opportunity but also allowed us to update the Evidence Bank in a way we'd been unable to for some time, ultimately helping those people who want to access information on children and young people’s views and voices.”

Children in Scotland are working again with the OU in Scotland to develop an intern proposal to support their ‘Digital Conversation’ work to bring together voices, views and experiences of people from across Scotland on the digital world.

Parisa concludes: “Our partnership with OU in Scotland has been, and will continue to be, extremely beneficial for us. Against the backdrop of highly pressured financial constraints on third sector organisations, there are always tasks that can add significant value to the work that we do but rarely have the capacity to address fully.” 

Committed to widening access, the OU in Scotland develops learning partnerships with voluntary and third sector organisations across Scotland, to help individuals, communities and organisations access life-changing learning and achieve their ambitions. Find out more in our Third Sector webpage and short video below. 

14 May 2026