MSFDN Reviews 41

I may be nearing the end of a Bootcamp labelled ‘Digital Marketing’, but I’ve gained so much more than just Marketing skills over the course of the sessions that the title almost seems to sell it short.

With MSFDN, I’ve had the opportunity to attend a fully-funded Skills for Life Bootcamp, covering every aspect of Digital Marketing from the detail-oriented analysis of data, to the strategy and importance of visual content. I’ve developed a strong understanding of the industry, highlighting which elements appeal most to me.

Beyond the content though, the people both supporting the learning and taking part in it were all wonderful, and by the time it came to our in-person sessions, we had made strong connections and all hit the ground running – collaborating and engaging.

The guidance of tutors from across the spectrum of marketing-adjacent roles has benefitted us with a wide range of valuable and enriching insight. Additionally, ending each day with a wraparound session allowed us to reflect and absorb the day’s learnings, and return to any sections we wanted to reinforce, all the time clear that support was available if needed.

Great experience during my bootcamp, i made new friends and the Tutors were amazing

Thank you MSFDN 💯

As an industry professional listed on the MSFDN database, I can genuinely say that working with this organisation has been very fulfilling.

From the very beginning, the team made me feel like more than just a collaborator — they welcomed me into the MSFDN family. That sense of belonging and mutual respect is something I truly value and is extremly hard to come by.

They’ve created a space where everyone — from young members to experts — feels valued and supported.

I feel incredibly to be part of their network.

As an employer working with the Michael Streete Foundation (MSFDN), I must commend the organisation for significantly alleviating a key challenge within my company. We were in need of individuals who could bring fresh ideas and a proactive mindset, and MSFDN delivered exactly that. Through their support, I was able to onboard five apprentices (sourced through MSFDN) who arrived with the right attitude, professionalism, and work ethic. The entire process was seamless and highly efficient. This collaboration has proven to be an invaluable addition to our workforce, and I am truly grateful to MSFDN for their continued support and for connecting us with such promising talent.

I’ve just completed my first apprenticeship at MSFDN and am now moving on to my second. This journey has been transformative, helping me grow both professionally and personally. I’ve gained invaluable skills I didn’t even realise I needed, such as etiquette and professionalism, which have shaped me into a more confident and capable individual. All this while gaining industry experience in content creation, marketing, broadcast & media… and I’m still learning. The CEO and MSFDN team have been so supportive in my journey. As someone who came into the team with zero experience, I was never looked down upon or made to feel out of place. Instead, I was given the training, guidance, and opportunities needed to excel in my role. MSFDN created an environment where I could learn, grow, and gain hands-on experience. The support from the CEO and team has been invaluable, pushing me to reach my full potential while continuously expanding my skill set. This feels like family to me.

I am currently not working so I did some research on local organisations and came across MSFDN. They gave me some advice on career paths and courses and they let me know about some apprenticeships they currently have. I have a meeting with their team soon about a Data Analyst course. Really happy that I came across this charity!

Joining the MSFDN apprenticeship programme was one of the best decisions I’ve made. It gave me real experience and confidence in my career.

MSFDN is such a wonderful charity to work with! I love everything they do for the young people & the community. Kereen is absolutely spectacular and has a wonderful team behind her.

Keep up the good work!

Mary

My experience with MSFDN entirely hasn't been so negative. Everyone I had worked with had been friendly, supportive and respectful towards me and others for the most part.
A lot of the work that I had done, I never truly understood and didn't see the reason why my skills were being utilised on certain tasks, every time I had asked for extra information or guidance, I felt I didn't recieve enough, or even the right resources to help me with my work.

There were also instances where I had been tasked to research about the area that MSFDN is based in, being London. I never understood this as I worked from home during my time there and I was/am based in Northern UK, this aids to my assumption that I was tasked to do whatever my boss had felt like at the time - this made me feel underappreciated and shoved to one side, I had also seen various statements of similar nature in other reviews, which makes me hope that this has changed.

There were some other negative experiences that I had during my time, but I feel as though things could have gone better, which I'm personally trying to imlrove on my part.
I hope everyone at MSFDN all have wonderful careers and a bright future ahead, their mission and intentions seem to be from the heart, though I think the execution isn't always done well.

I do contain mixed feelings about my experience with MSFDN, though I do not hold any negative feelings towards the people I worked with and met during my time, like I said I hope they all have wonderful futures ahead, they all definitely have the potential to do well within their career.

Rhys.

MSFDN is such a fun and cool environment to be in - I had so much fun learning a whole load of things about the creative industries through practical and theoretical learning activities.

MSFDN is dedicated to ensuring that all their members and also staff are working in a safe and effective environment and always ready to welcome anyone with open arms. They admire uniqueness in individuals and nurture skills and talents.

Overall, they’re just amazing. I look forward to working with them and meeting with them again in the near future.

Before I get into the nitty gritty with my experience at MSFDN. I’d like to say I think the morality behind what they do shouldn’t be questioned as I know it has been. I think their desired goal is amazing, however, as long as they stay stuck in their way they will never reach it.

My experience as an apprentice was far from what I expected when I applied for a job here. My role as a content creator was manipulated from what I was virtually promised when applying for the role. That was making content for social media, promoting the charity and being creative with my work.

Unfortunately, and ironically for a charity who aspires to help young creatives, I can’t help but feel I was limited in my work life. Even when I was working on social media, nothing we made ever saw the light of day.

We saw little to no training, except for when I can only assume Ofsted were on our backs and we were advised to pretend like we’re learning (I wish I was joking)… It wasn’t an apprenticeship, at least not a standard one haha. It felt more like cheap labour, doing tasks of an assistant. Stopping work in work hours to go to the local Sainsbury’s.

It was such a promising role for me to step into, I was so excited and tried so hard myself to make it work but in the end it wasn’t meant to be. I wish those who are still there the best of luck in their future, and I don’t have any sour thoughts about MSFDN as I left on my own accord.

I can predict that the reply to this will be mentioning how I could’ve been better rather than acknowledging the vital mistakes that led to 6 employees leaving in a 6 month timeframe (leaving them with 3 employees), so I’ll acknowledge that I wasn’t at my best here either, but that’s largely because I knew I wanted to leave 5 months before I took action to.

JB

I have been an apprentice at MSFDN and have honestly found it really difficult. The other apprentices are nice but the boss is really cruel and disrespectful. What doesn’t sit right with me is that she hires apprentices, or does workshops, and when they don’t like it, she says it’s because they’re ’vulnerable’. I can assure you that as someone the CEO labelled vulnerable, I am not at all. I came as an apprentice, not as a young youth we were trying to help. I feel bad that I’ve wasted time in a project that has made people worse off.

The work is ill managed and there is no training or clear targets. The job positions don’t matter, and you’ll be pulled into doing everything for the CEO, including runs to the shop to buy her lunch and cutting her vegetables up for her. The pay is really low and there’s no view of career progression.

Training with MSFDN has been an experience to say the least. The level of commitment their team puts into these programmes is very heart warming. Can't recommend them enough. MSFDN has prepared me for my future and I couldn't thank them enough!

I have been doing training here for some months and all the tutors were great and I particularly enjoyed the session talks when Kereen joined. Always great to hear experiences of those who have fought through the challenges and appreciate these people who help us overcome those issues.
Also, a shout-out to the admin and support staff as they were really friendly and always there to support and motivate everyone.

In short you guys rock🤝

Stay away from this company!!!! They do not offer no apprenticeships. Their boot camps and whole organisation are a scam, I recently attended one and it had nothing to do with an apprenticeship, one of the people that work there told me to look at the reviews and they all had the same experiences. All you’re there to do is research. This charity doesn’t help no youths. Stay away from this company and for the people who are still there get out now and stop wasting your time.

Your bootcamp sessions have inspired me to start my own business and i couldn’t be more grateful to MSFDN. This is the era I didn’t know I needed!

I’m about half way through one of MSFDN’s bootcamps and I must say for someone with little to no knowledge on the subject I have successfully completed all tasks and found the sessions very engaging. I’m usually quite an anxious person but I felt very comfortable to ask questions and contribute. Wanted to give a huge thank you to the MSFDN team, your impact will not go unnoticed!

MSFDN has overwhelmed me with knowledge and all the support I could ever need I am so grateful and can’t wait to see what they’ll be doing next!

The current bootcamp MSFDN are hosting has been very insightful. They have been supportive every step of the way. I can’t wait to book the next one!!