THESE students are among a cohort of young volunteers gaining valuable work experience in York as part of the Covid-19 vaccination effort.

Nimbuscare who runs the York Vaccination Centre at Askham Bar is offering placements to a number of schools and sixth form colleges across York.

So far, more than 50 students, many of whom are interested in careers in health care, have signed up and gone through the appropriate checks and induction process before volunteering at the site on weekends and during their holidays. They are fulfilling a variety of different roles at the busy site, where more than 200,000 Covid vaccinations have been administered in recent months, including greeting patients, directing them around the site and providing help.

Maddy Ruff, Chief Executive of Nimbuscare, said: “We’re delighted to be able to offer work experience placements to our student volunteers, who are fantastic role models for other young people and doing a wonderful job for us at the York Vaccination Centre.”

Shaun Stevens, of Askham Bryan College, said he wanted to gain some work experience, but also to build his confidence by getting involved with the public. He said: “I was nervous at the start but got more and more confident, so after a few shifts I was just greeting everyone like I already knew them.”

Aisha Tribak of All Saints RC School got involved because she loves working with people and is interested in going into the healthcare field in the future. She said: “There haven't been many opportunities during the pandemic so I jumped at the chance to be involved and wanted to be part of things. I’m really enjoying it so far and everyone has been really friendly, helping me out and showing me where to go.”

Megan Wakerley of St Peter’s School said: “It’s a good opportunity and I’m considering studying medicine or veterinary medicine so this provides great experience for me. I’m really enjoying it, especially chatting to lots of different people.”

Navami Sangeeth of St Peter’s School volunteered because she wanted work experience for her application to study medicine. She added: “It has really opened her eyes to what I enjoy doing, particularly working with others and chatting to people. It’s great to see how it has all been organised, I’m very impressed and enjoying myself.”

Charlotte Gee, also of St Peter’s School, is volunteering as part of her Gold D of E (Duke of Edinburgh Award). She said: “It’s good to be involved in a big project. It has been really fun and I’ve learnt a lot, including how to put people at ease when they are nervous.”