The Danson Foundation was founded by Mike Danson (Law, 1982), and his wife Helen, to help support all students to achieve their potential, regardless of background.
Through The Danson Foundation, Mike and Helen offer St Anne’s students a wealth of opportunities. They have generously supported our students through the funding of Oxford Bursaries and their Internship Scheme.
THE DANSON INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME
Each year, the Danson Foundation offers up to 60 paid internships based in London. These are exclusively for St Anne’s undergraduates. The internships are in organisations connected to The Danson Foundation and the GlobalData Plc group, across a range of sectors, including digital and printed media, management consultancy and the third sector. As well as placements in GlobalData’s various departments, companies have included the New Statesman, The World of Fine Wine, PEAS International, Elite Traveler and Press Gazette.
****APPLICATIONS FOR SUMMER 2024 INTERNSHIPS ARE NOW OPEN****
For the opportunities on offer and application guidelines for 2024, please see the The Danson Foundation Internship 2024 Prospectus.
Any questions please email Christine Robertson at internships@st-annes.ox.ac.uk who will be happy to help.
“I loved my time on the Danson internship! It was great knowing that the work we were doing was worthwhile, working towards projects with the potential to make a difference in the industry. The interconnectedness of the company provided many shadowing opportunities, which were useful in learning about different career pathways. Additionally, the mentors and guest speakers provided valuable insights into office working life and the variety of skills needed to succeed in the corporate workplace. Beyond the work, I had a fun month in London with some of my closest friends from Anne’s and enjoyed meeting so many new people.” Hazel Bott, Biomedical Sciences, 2023 GlobalData Pharma Themes intern.
“The Danson internship has made me feel positive and excited about the future. Getting to see the workings of a huge company like GlobalData from the inside and understanding all the different roles that are out there has been incredibly valuable“. Emmaleigh Eaves, BA Modern Languages, 2020 GlobalData intern.
“I did the Danson Foundation Internship Programme between June and July in 2015, just before beginning my third year at St. Anne’s. As I recall my interest was piqued by the opportunity to dip my toe into the waters of working life at a big professional services group – Global Data – and become part of a network of interns, the camaraderie and expertise of which I would be able to draw on for the duration of my career.
Although plagued with uncertainty about my future career’s direction as a mere 20 year old, I knew I enjoyed writing and was keen to hone my editorial skills. Working at Progressive Content I got the opportunity to do this across a wide range of accounts, in industries ranging from foodservice to accountancy. Writing marketing copy was a new challenge for me – it meant adopting a different style to my university essays, and took a bit of getting used to. But the Progressive team were always happy to prod me in the right direction, helping me adapt to different audiences as well as bringing me up to speed on the high-tech ways of a marketing organisation.
Although I thought my internship had gone well and I’d got on well with everyone, I had no idea I would be offered a job! The role was in the newly created Insight department, meaning I would be delving into an area of marketing with which I was unfamiliar. But I knew from my internship that Progressive was a welcoming environment where I could learn a lot and so would be a good fit for me professionally.
Working at Progressive has been terrific as it has equipped me with multifarious marketing skills in the years since I joined the company. In addition to my writing and research remits, I’ve been given additional responsibilities, such as helping to develop a company graduate scheme. I also now moonlight as the CMO of a successful vegan sausage company. This would not have been possible without Progressive’s guiding hand on the tiller of my career – and the Danson Foundation Internship Programme made it all possible.” Thomas Lawrence, Insight Manager, Progressive Content (Danson Foundation Intern in 2015)