Megan Pugsley (19) is a student at Cardiff Metropolitan University in her second year of studying English and creative writing. For her degree, she has been asked by her university to take part in a student placement of her own choice. She has chosen CIH Cymru as her placement. During her placement Megan will be contributing an article to WHQ as well as attending CIH Cymru’s TAI conference as a member of the team. She’s looking forward to the conference as it focuses on important and current housing topics, giving her a chance to learn about the sector.
‘I am very grateful to be given the opportunity of a work placement with CIH Cymru, which includes attending the CIH Cymru annual conference, as well as writing for WHQ magazine and the CIH website. TAI is a very useful and informative conference that discusses the current issues and changes within the housing sector. It allows an overview of all current aspects of housing, as well as an opportunity to hear great speakers and provide an enjoyable experience to all of those who are involved. I believe that the conference will be a great experience for me as it will allow me to broaden my knowledge of the housing sector and will introduce me to an exciting and useful atmosphere, packed with information and new experiences.
When researching the conference and themes I noticed some topics that are particularly important within the housing sector at the moment, such as welfare reform and empty properties. I was very pleased to see that there will be discussions on both topics featured at conference, such as Katija Dew’s session on ‘Benefit Reform and Financial Inclusion’. I feel it is very important that such topics are recognised, as both are very recent and significant within today’s society. The sessions will allow many opinions to be heard in regards to the current changes being made by Government and how the housing sector will be affected by these decisions. I am particularly interested to find out more about benefit reform, as it appears to be a huge topic at the moment, and I would love to know more about it – particularly in regards to those affected by it and those involved.
I am also particularly looking forward to the headline session of the conference; speaker George Clarke. George Clarke is a writer, television presenter, author, architect, government advisor and empty homes campaigner, and as I am hoping to become a writer and author, I feel that it will be very beneficial for me to listen to his ideas and gain a valuable insight. I feel I will also gain similar experience within my student placement with CIH Cymru when writing for the CIH website, as well as for WHQ, after having been to the conference itself. Much like the writers within WHQ, I am hoping to contribute my opinions and newly gained knowledge towards my article and to provide an exciting and enjoyable read for those who are interested in such topics. I believe WHQ is a very informative and diverse magazine, which not only provides an interesting read, but also an enjoyable one. Like many of the articles seen within previous WHQ issues, I am looking forward to contributing an article that members of the public will be able to understand and find very informative and useful, as well as representing the great work and ideas presented by CIH Cymru.’