The Devas Club is a South-London charity committed to enriching the lives of children and young people. Founded in 1884 by Univ student Jocelyn Devas, the organisation engages members through a variety of activities. This Summer, Laura Fulton (2021, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies – Chinese) completed a remote internship with the Devas Club’s Grant Application Manager, John Dinneen (2014, English). Laura has kindly provided a report of her internship experience. 

I had previously helped Devas by working as a Univ Student Ambassador and accompanying them during their annual visit to Univ. In 2024, I met the Seniors and in 2025, I met the Juniors and some of their guardians. On both occasions, I also met some of the Devas leadership team including some of the trustees.

During my interactions with the team, I got a sense of the work they do and connected with lots of Devas members! One of the Juniors invited me and another Student Ambassador, Elizabeth (Lizzie) to visit the Devas Club in London during the Easter Vacation 2025, and we had a great time meeting more Devas members. We were able to travel to meet them at their base in Wandsworth thanks to the generosity of the Master, Baroness Valerie Amos. We played games and helped with a visit to the Vauxhall City Farm.

When John Dineen asked if I would be interested in doing an internship with Devas over the summer on the funding and grant application team, I was excited to be able to contribute to the running of the organisation. The young people and their leadership team had already made a strong impression on me, and I wanted to be able to help them to secure more funding during a precarious period for services like Devas (due to funding cuts and increased demand). I thought that this would be a great way to support them while also developing my own skills.

The internship involved working with the Devas team on two different projects over a two-month period. In our initial meetings, John Dinneen introduced me to each project, briefed me on what they would entail and the direction my work would take, and talked about the funding bodies involved.

At this point, I remember feeling really excited about the work to come. It was great to feel so supported with the initial stage of each project and then be allowed to give it my own direction and work independently to lead the application in its next stage.

I liaised closely with Devas staff to get accurate information and a better understand their needs. The projects were quite different: one was calculating the cost of a series of dance lessons and writing the application for funding for it, while the other was applying to fund a new staff member at Devas.

What I enjoyed most about this internship was the way it involved so many different staff and moving parts. It helped me further develop my communication and organisation skills and also taught me a great deal about how charities are run. I enjoyed working on projects that would potentially have a real impact on the Devas club members, who I had loved spending time with!

I also had the opportunity to talk to various members of the Devas team about their strategies for the future. It was incredibly interesting to see how the leadership and management of the organisation are changing strategies in response to their circumstances, and I was impressed by the innovative approaches being implemented to ensure that the charity’s services continue to benefit their community in the future.

The internship helped me to develop my professional skills. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to build my teamwork and collaboration skills, expanding on the individual skills I developed in my studies at Oxford. It was surprising that I was able to feel like part of the team and develop these skills despite it being a remote internship. That’s thanks to the Devas team, and I now feel a lot more confident in approaching similar work environments.

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