A Warm Hello From Lucia

Lucia Pollan, who is studying Sustainability and Environmental Management at the University of Leeds, has joined Ecology as our Sustainability and Communications student placement. In this blog, she tells us about her first impressions of working with us.

Hi! My name is Lucia and it feels great to introduce myself as a new member of Ecology’s team. I’d like to share with you some of my experiences so far: what motivated me to pursue an internship here and how my first three months have been.

I first heard about Ecology through a friendly chat with Gill, Ecology’s Savings Manager, whilst working part-time in hospitality during my second year of university. I was left feeling intrigued and after doing some research, I got the pleasant feeling that Ecology’s vision of creating a greener society was honest and meaningful, especially after reading the fantastic impact they have on their members. They stood out from any other organisation I had considered working with and made me want to solely pursue a placement with them. So, I got in touch and was very excited to be offered an eight-month internship.

I must say, my first three months here have come with their challenges. I can’t think of a single person who hasn’t struggled through these national lockdowns, but despite the consequences of working remotely, I have felt supported throughout and very much like a valued member of the team.

My role is based in Marketing and Communications, but I also work closely with Sustainability. We are only a small team, but every single member is skilled, versatile and, most importantly, friendly. I know from my brief time in the office and regular virtual meetings that these traits are common across the whole Society. It’s a great pleasure to work with such a wonderful bunch! My favourite part of working here is helping with coordinating and developing new case studies of Ecology’s sustainable lending. I find capturing members’ experiences and their unique environmental building projects very rewarding – after all, it was Ecology’s positive impact that drew me in!

To me, the Society’s future looks exciting and bright. They have adapted to rapid changes and still manage to succeed and grow, showing that they are socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. With further plans to move towards more modern and accessible services, I think it goes without saying that I am really looking forward to my remaining time at Ecology.