Guest blog: Volunteering with Replacing Animal Research

As a part of my undergraduate degree in Animal Welfare and Society, I was required to complete a 72-hour-long placement with a business or organisation of my choice.

Why I chose Replacing Animal Research

I have always had a huge passion for animal advocacy which has led to an interest in pursuing a career working with charities who work towards improving the lives of human and non-human animals in our society. In my search for a charity to work with on a placement, I came across Replacing Animal Research. As I read about the work the charity does in their mission to replace animals in scientific research, I knew that they were an organisation I wanted to learn from and be a part of in any way that I could. So, I reached out asking if it would be possible for me to volunteer with the charity, and was absolutely ecstatic when Catriona responded letting me know that I could complete my placement here!

What happened during my placement?

With my only previous experience of the working world being various retail jobs, I was initially really nervous to start my placement with Replacing Animal Research as it was so different from anything I’ve ever done before. These nerves soon dissipated as my mentor, Lucinda, was there to support me through every step of the way and I quickly settled in.

As I specifically aim to work within policy and campaign work with charities in the future, it was really important to me that I would be able to develop the necessary skills to pursue a career in these areas. In alignment with this, I focussed a large proportion of my time on this placement on an audience research project. This project allowed me to develop a first-hand understanding of how animal rights campaigns come together as I was given the full freedom to create the beginnings of a campaign surrounding how university students in the life sciences might be able to contribute to the animal-free science movement. This included me researching which platforms were most suited to the campaign, coming up with a message to spread through the campaign, and then deciding how the message should be presented and shared.

The highlight of my time working with Replacing Animal Research was hosting a ‘brainstorm’ meeting as a part of the audience research project. This included me holding a Teams meeting with the Replacing Animal Research team, and leading an informal discussion surrounding the project I was creating during which the team helped me to shape my existing ideas as well as contributing their own. Had I not found this volunteering position, I am not sure how I would have come across an opportunity to develop all of these skills. 

What I gained from my placement with Replacing Animal Research

Having this experience really affirmed to me that this is the sort of career I want to go into after I graduate this year and is giving me the last push of motivation I need in finishing my degree. In the future, I hope to pursue a career advocating for animals through working in a charity, specifically through campaigning and policy work. This placement has really helped to boost my confidence in aiming for this goal and I am looking to continue expanding my skills relating to these areas by continuing to volunteer with charities post-graduation. 

In addition to the experience I’ve gained through my placement here, I feel a great sense of accomplishment having given my time and energy to an organisation I so strongly believe in. As an Animal Welfare student, I spend most of my time studying animal rights issues such as animal research, but rarely have the chance to actively work to overcome them. Because of this, I have found it extremely rewarding to work alongside people who are working to make changes to the way we use animals in science and I feel so inspired to continue making actions to help make progress in this area. 

In summary, I have had the most incredible time volunteering with Replacing Animal Research and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat if I could! The skills and experiences I have gained throughout this placement are so valuable to me and it is so important to me that I have been a part of such an incredible charity. Most importantly, I have loved meeting and working with the team here at Replacing Animal Research and I am so grateful to have had this incredible opportunity. 

You can follow me on LinkedIn at  to follow along with my journey 🙂