How An Internship Became My Lifesaver – Elke’s Story

How An Internship Became My Lifesaver

I am Elke Wallace, 58 years old, from the West Midlands. My life-long sight loss is due to the genetic condition of oculocutaneous albinism, paired with Nystagmus and a high sensitivity to light (photophobia), and at my advanced age, additional issues like cataract are joining the existing conditions. However, I don’t see that as a problem since I never had full sight.

My Internship Experience

The main activities I took on at the Beacon Centre was the day-to-day running and management of the eBay store, which was previously not run by a full-time person. This involved researching and listing items on the Beacon Charity Finds eBay page, handling customer enquiries, and the packing and timely shipment of items. The referral side was still to start later but ended in being asked to be part of the Befriending Team.

The TPT activities involved five trips to in-person events at TPT in London with workshops about self-development, including mindset work and public speaking. Other areas included help with developing a CV and LinkedIn profile, a Buddy and Mentoring system, Tech Drop-In sessions, and online socials. An important part was the Group Project, which involved working in a group of 4 – 5 people and was to conclude with a group presentation at the final two-day event in London at the end of the internship.

I had the fantastic advantage to already know some of the people I was going to work with at the Beacon Centre, and I already loved volunteering there before I started work on 6^th October 2025.

Running the eBay store was a gradual learning experience. I had been shown the most important bits by my lovely part-time predecessor Kate, which was a great help, but I still had to improve listing techniques and photography and find a way to improve the sometimes-slow means of shipping. However, I continually had ideas for improvements that were suggested to my Internship Manager and approved. All that lead to our eBay store becoming a Top-Rated Seller in Spring 2026.

The TPT part of the internship was my first experience to meet and interact with blind and visually impaired people in a more professional environment. The workshops by Redway and other organisations at the in-person days were insightful and interactive, the support from the employment side of TPT was helpful to create a more up-to-date CV and I liked the online Tech Drop-Ins with information about new developments in assistive technology.

One thing I enjoyed most was our group project. Although the project hit a few issues closer to the end that was none of our fault, we did create a cohesive group of 8 people, working closely together and developing flexible ways of working and covering for each other’s tasks if there were issues with timing and availability. Our presentation at the final day’s big event on 3^rd July 2026 was well received and we were all proud of our achievement.

Prior to joining Beacon:

I was struggling, 2025 started as a tough year: tax credit overpayment dept, a credit card debt hanging over my head that I couldn’t pay off and receiving a minimal Universal Credit amount – all that alongside the fact that the self-employment didn’t bring in anything, no matter how hard I tried to market my coaching and workshops.

Eventually, when Universal Credit persuaded (or rather pressured) me to sign as unemployed, I got on the Restart program in Wolverhampton – now called WorkPays – in early April 2025. My fantastic work coach there, Abbey Glasgow-Raji, and the two “Work Coaches” at Job Centre Bilston recommended volunteering, which led me to the Beacon Centre. Vaguely remembered it as a place looking after blind and visually impaired people from a visit many years ago (I can’t even recall the reason for the visit then, but it must have been over 10 years ago.)

I started volunteering at the Beacon Centre in June 2025, initially helping Satveer with the mailing of Talking News CDs, then came the call from Anthony at Retail, asking if I wanted to help there, too. I jumped at the opportunity and enjoyed the warm welcome and the work environment.

Discovering the Get Set Progress Internship

One day, in late June 2025, I saw a Facebook post by the Beacon Centre, advertising for an E-Commerce and Referral Administration Internship, linked to the Thomas Pocklington Trust. I requested further information about the role and immediately decided to apply.

I had never heard of the Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) before but on reading the details about the role, which included some information about that organisation, I felt even more that the role would be ideal.

I applied, got through the initial telephone in mid-July interview and was invited to attend an in-person interview as a second stage a week or two later. Charlie Rashbrook of TPT was part of that interview panel. And I was chuffed to be offered the job on 31^st July 2026 – things would be on the up very soon!

What is the Get Set Progress Internship?

A quick word about Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT). The organisation offers help and support for people of a wide age group to get into education or work. This involves individual advice about visual aids, assistive technology and helping blind and visually impaired people to develop confidence and independence. To offer internship places, TPT develops partnerships with employers across a variety of different fields, like sight-loss sport organisations and the media.

The nine-month Get Set Progress internship focuses 80% on a job role by an employer, in my case the E-Commerce and Referral Admin Internship, and 20% of activities linked to TPT.

Why I recommend the Get Set Progress Internship

I may not have required all of the available support the Get Set Internship and especially TPT offered, because I had been involved with personal development for over 19 years in different ways and as I had been on the Restart (now WorkPays) program just before the start of the internship. However, I cannot stop praising the Get Set Progress internship enough for all the support and the fantastic people at TPT along with all the support I got here at the Beacon Centre from my Internship Manager.

If you are blind or partially sighted and find it difficult to get into work following your academic education or after a long employment gap due to sight loss, I can highly recommend applying for one of the positions offered on the Get Set Progress internship program. You will get so much support, you will meet amazing and super-talented people, and you will be able to develop more confidence and independence on your journey.

You may ask where I am now?

I am still working in my role at the Beacon Centre, eternally grateful that I was allowed to stay on and continue the work I started.