Elin Vigus

Name: Elin Vigus

Studying: BSc Neuroscience

University: University of Leeds

Internship with: The Welsh Language and Future Workforce Teams

During summer 2025 HEIW welcomed students for an 8-week internship, offering each of them the chance to gain valuable insights into working within the NHS in Wales. Here, Elin shares her experience with the Welsh language and Future Workforce teams at HEIW.

My Overall Experience

Hello! I’m Elin, a Neuroscience student at the University of Leeds going into my third year of study this September. Coming from a Welsh speaking family that have fought for the Welsh language in the past, I’ve always had a passion and determination to promote the Welsh language, and I’m especially grateful to have this opportunity to do so for the future of the NHS. This work is incredibly important to me as I live in England and so I don’t get the chance to speak Welsh very often at university, but I’ve grown up knowing the importance of the language in Wales, especially in healthcare systems. My understanding was heightened during my time at HEIW as I got to hear many positive experiences people have had when Welsh has been used in a healthcare setting.

This opportunity has given me an insight into how much work goes unseen in the NHS and how hard the Future Workforce and Welsh language teams work to inspire the next generations of NHS workers. Throughout this experience I’ve learnt about the many variations of NHS jobs and had the privilege of meeting the teams of individuals working at universities to increase Welsh language opportunities for students. One of the best things I will take away from working at HEIW is the supportive and welcoming culture it has (especially in my teams) and how passionate everyone is about their roles.

Project Summary

During my 8-week placement at HEIW, I worked on two projects: the primary school resource Syrjeri Sgiliau and the secondary school platform Careersville. As a Welsh speaker, I was especially motivated to support the promotion of the Welsh language in NHS careers, working closely with the Future Workforce and Welsh language teams. My main responsibilities included identifying Welsh-medium contacts across schools and universities to promote Syrjeri Sgiliau and engage lecturers in creating videos and interviews for Careersville. I also reached out to secondary schools to showcase both new and existing Careersville resources and encourage student interest in NHS careers.

In the Beginning

Before beginning my internship, I did research into the websites I would be basing my project on through the 8 weeks, for example, into Tregyrfa/Careersville. This made my contributions to the Future Workforce team even easier and meaningful. Once I started the internship, I undertook more research into resources such as ‘Syrjeri Sgiliau’ and ‘Careersville’, along with understanding what each team does for HEIW and how important their work is. This was highly important for me to be able to understand the teams and my projects goals and HEIW’s overall goal. At the beginning I was very nervous, but as weeks went on, with a supportive team around me, I enjoyed working and meeting new people every day, contributing to HEIW’s goal.

Next Steps

Building on my work so far, the Welsh language and Future Workforce teams will upload the resources and continue to monitor how my work has been to the ‘Careersville’ platform and see the interest in ‘Syrjeri Sgiliau’ in primary schools.

Beyond Work and University

Beyond work and university, I enjoy being active and I’ve recently started running and working towards my first 10k. Being in university I am very susceptible to watching a film or tv on the sofa with my housemates every now and then (most days) after a library session of course!