Work experience: supporting the next generation

28th July, 2026

Almost 42% of our volunteer force is made up of people under the age of 25, and our Volunteer to Career programme gives them an invaluable experience at a world-class centre of excellence for eye care, research and education. But not everyone is able to commit to 6 months of volunteering.

We sat down to chat with Nimita, the newly appointed Youth Engagement Manager at Friends, about how we’re going to support even more young people through our work experience programme.

To start things off, can you tell us a bit about the programme?

The work experience programme is a short, 1-to-2-week programme to give young people between 16-to-19 years old a taster of the opportunities in healthcare, and in particular in eye health. It replaces the work experience programme currently ran by Moorfields Eye Hospital.

Their days will consist of 2-to-3-hour slots with different departments, and their experiences will range from shadowing a clinic, department or volunteer at work, to attending presentations/events or group work with medical students, to activities such as research tests in electrophysiology.

We are working closely with Moorfields Eye Hospital, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre and the Young Person’s Advisory Group (YPAG) to offer students a varied experience.

The Friends normally focus on patient experience. Why are we introducing a workplace experience programme? And why now?

With the move to Moorfields and UCL Centre for Eye Health in mind, we have an incredible opportunity to find new ways to support communities, including students in our area and beyond.

I’ve got two teenagers myself and I’ve seen them and their friends struggle with career choices. Even if they know which direction they want to go in, they don’t know about all the opportunities out there. And if they do, they can’t find work experience. There are so many closed doors.

It’s tough for young people out there. At Moorfields, we have the chance to change this for the healthcare sector. The workplace programme might not have an instant impact on patient experience, but it will have a direct impact in the long term. We need good staff. What better place to start looking for future colleagues than amongst young people embarking on their career journeys.

There’s a certain buzz around Moorfields. People are kind. And it’s a place where you can grow beyond the role you are hired for. At the age of 16-19, students are taking decisions that lay the foundations of their career path, so it’s a critical age to scout for talent and show them what Moorfields can offer them.

How are staff getting involved in the programme?

Our colleagues are busy. The programme is designed to avoid adding anything extra to their plates. There is no preparation or curriculum design required.

Students are shadowing staff at work, taking part in existing research projects, and coming along to planned talks, group work and events.

Simply observing patient interactions and being immersed in a healthcare environment is already an invaluable experience.

What is your vision for the programme in the long term?

That’s simple: watching students become part of the Moorfields family. It would be amazing to see people go into eye care and perhaps even volunteer with us!

We want to scale the programme. I’ve been approached by many colleagues about opportunities for their children or a young person they know. We currently don’t have the capacity to take on everyone, but as more departments sign up, we can host more students. If work experience isn’t quite right, Friends can be an entry point to connect students up with YPAG initiatives or to get them to consider studying at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology.

In the long-term, we also intend to expand the programme beyond the focus on medical students. Everyone has a skill and you don’t need to be a medical specialist: Moorfields is for everyone.

Participants will get the word out to students who might not have considered Moorfields and the programme, and through this increase our reach. This will hopefully further increase the demand for the programme and allow us to expand the service to different sites.

Applications for this year’s cohort have now been closed. Keep an eye on our website for more information about future work experience programmes. We will be closely evaluating our next steps but look forward to working with even more departments and colleagues for the next cohort.