Joe joined the Few and Far team after we worked with the University of Leeds to create a placement opportunity for one of their Computer Science pupils and we’ve loved having him as part of the Few.

Before he left we caught up with Joe to look back on a successful year of website development for nonprofits. Hear about Joe’s experience building websites for the third sector and how charity web developer jobs can differ from corporate environments.

What has been the biggest lesson you have learned in your time with Few and Far?

I’d definitely say that the biggest lesson I’ve learned at Few and Far is not to be afraid of making mistakes, particularly when learning something new. During the first few months, I would say I was a bit too failure-averse and tried to expand my skillset slowly and cautiously. Looking back, I would absolutely have been more adventurous, as the moments this year where I’ve seen the most development in my skills have been by trying, messing up, and learning how to rectify the mistakes I made; from my experiences this year, knowing how to correct something that is incorrect is often far more valuable than only knowing how to do something right the first time round.

What surprised you the most during your time working on charity websites?

After attending a few Nurture Programme client calls earlier on in my placement, I was surprised to see just how much of an impact a small amount of work can make. Prior to starting at Few and Far, I was quite convinced that only big, flashy rebrands or significant technical overhauls would actually make a noticeable difference to a charity. However, after listening in on the Nurture Programme calls, it was really interesting to see that slight technical tweaks or minor redesigns can have a much larger positive effect on a charity and its digital presence. Even little accessibility changes to a website can open up a charity’s services to an entirely new audience that was previously unable to benefit from them.

What project or moment are you most proud of from the last 12 months?

That’s a very tricky question as I’ve worked on so many in the last year, all of which I’m super proud to look back on! But, if I had to choose just one, I would probably say the Llamau website, as it was the first Digital Transformation I was involved in, and I found myself continually learning throughout the project’s progression. The process of carefully bringing a design to life in the form of a full website was a very new but super rewarding experience. It was also the first time I was working closely with both technical and creative individuals, both of whom were of equal importance in the success of the project, so learning how to communicate and collaborate effectively with everyone was also a great experience.

When the site launched on the 30th October, it was definitely one of the most memorable moments from my placement, as I was finally able to see the project ‘in the wild’. It was amazing to see the impact the website had on Llamau, as online donations during the subsequent Christmas campaign increased from the year before by 27%.

What advice would you give to other young people interested in helping charities through digital?

I would encourage them to look for ways to help charities in the digital space, whether it’s by working directly for them or through digital agencies such as Few and Far. You’ll be enabling these fantastic organisations to have a more significant impact and perform more of the brilliant work that they do. This is a factor I’ve found to be extremely motivating in the last 12 months; it’s easy getting out of bed every day with the knowledge that your work is assisting good causes all across the country. You don’t need to be technical to make a difference - creatives are equally as valuable in helping charities deliver their message as effectively and powerfully as they can.

How are you spending your final week with Few and Far?

The beginning of my last week has been spent finishing up some work on a booking system project for the Few and Far website. I first started this project back in December, and it’s been both a very educational and fun experience working with Tom to design and implement a system that will serve as a replacement for Calendly and automate several menial tasks that previously had to be done manually for every client meeting. I’ve finally managed to get the project to a point I’m happy with, and I can’t wait to see it live and in action in the future.

My final few days at Few and Far I’m actually spending in London, attending Laravel Live along with Tom and Mauro. I’m super excited as it is looking like the event will be full of interesting and informative talks from a variety of speakers, and so it should be a lovely way to draw my placement to a close.

What’s next for you now your placement with Few and Far has come to an end?

I’ve got a bit of a break over the summer before I embark on the final year of my Computer Science degree. I’m excited to be continuing my studies next year, and aim to use the knowledge and skills I’ve gained whilst at Few and Far to help me in my last year of academia. Can’t say I’m thrilled to begin revising for exams again though!

In the meantime, I’m going to keep my coding skills up to scratch by working on a couple of personal projects over the summer, one of which is a web app that I began building as part of my tech stack training in the initial months of my placement. I think it’d be really nice to go back to it 8 months on!

We take a look back on Joe’s 12 month Software Developer placement