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Matthew, 25, is a Grants Officer at the Masonic Charitable Foundation. He lives in South London with his friends.

My alarm goes off…

…but I’m not very good at getting up in the mornings. I jump in the shower then grab something that I can eat on the train whilst listening to a podcast.

I’m responsible for…

…medical grant applications. This means reviewing applications; liaising with hospitals; making sure we have all the supporting documents; and keeping applicants updated. Because the issues are medical, the priority is making sure people get help as quickly as possible.

I got my job…

…by starting at the MCF as an admin temp! I then moved on to help the grants team, and was offered an interview for a permanent position.

My typical day…

…starts by answering emails, and flagging those that require advice from a Senior Grants Officer. Once that’s done, I make my first coffee of the day – I drink way too much coffee! I’ll then crack on with processing applications, and managing ongoing grants as our work doesn’t stop with the award of the grant. I’ll then have my second coffee before phoning hospitals to confirm costs, check waiting times and make sure everything is running smoothly. If I’m not too sure about a particular case, I’ll sit down with my team and we’ll work through it together. I finish at 5pm, but if I get an emergency call from a hospital or someone applying for help, I’m always happy to stay late.

After work…

…I head home and cook a nice big dinner. I’m quite into cooking so that’s my way of unwinding and I tend to get quite carried away with my recipes!

My most memorable work moment…

…was receiving a thank you letter from the first case I saw from start to finish. The applicant faced a 12 month wait for a knee replacement and was trapped at home, but we managed to get him an operation within three months. There are a lot of memorable moments because I know I’ve moved someone’s life on to a new phase and given them back the independence they’d been missing.

The hardest part of my job…

…has to be telling someone they don’t qualify for support. Sometimes it’s because they’ve got an NHS date within the time frame, which is actually a good thing! We can’t help everyone but luckily saying ‘no’ is very rare. If we do have to turn someone down, we will try to signpost them to other charities or government agencies that may be able to help.

The best part of my job…

…is helping people – it’s important to me that the work I put in will make a massive difference to someone’s life. The working environment is also great. We’re not just working for the sake of making money; we are all working to help as many people as possible.