30
Jan

Student Volunteering Week – Save the Date

In General

Reading Time: 4 minutes

There is nothing more satisfying and worthwhile than giving. And what better way to start than with our annual Student Volunteering Week, which is back for another year between Monday 22nd-Sunday 28th February. You can get involved with events, talks, volunteering tasters and much more across the University and Southampton.

What is volunteering?

Volunteering is ‘freely offering something’, usually your time, to a cause.

It is a common misconception that volunteering is just helping charity. It can be that, but it may also include:

  • Coaching your local football team
  • Representing your Halls of Residences in a Halls Committee
  • Organising an event for your student group/society
  • Walking a neighbour’s dog

There are hundreds of examples of things you can do (we can’t list them all here), but often it may be the case that you are already doing volunteering without realising it!

Why do it?

  • It’s fun!
  • Personal development: It may give you confidence, help you make new friends or try something completely new
  • Career development: Many of the skills you will be using during volunteering will be favoured by potential employers (e.g. coaching your local football team shows teamwork, dedication, commitment and communication to name a few!)
  • Helping others: Mostly, your time is the most valuable thing to volunteering – it needn’t involve you spending any money, but by offering your time you can make positive change to a range of causes.

So what will be happening for Student Volunteering Week?

We have a packed programme of events for you to get involved in with more to be announced, including the locations of each event (events subject to change).

Monday 22nd- What is volunteering?

 

10:00-15:00 Fundraising and Volunteering Fayre – Concourse

Come and find out what volunteering is all about! Talk to an array of both student groups and external organisations to find out more about the amazing volunteering opportunities available in Southampton.

18:00-19:00 University of Southampton Alumni Q&A Panel Session – Building 58 Room 1025, Highfield campus

Come along to meet Southampton alumni who have gone on to work in the volunteering sector. Find out how and why they got involved in volunteering and the routes they took to get to where they are now. Soft drinks and nibbles will be provided. Please come with questions prepared.

Tuesday 23rd – Local Action

10.45-11.45 Biscuit Poetry Coffee morning – Meeting Room 2, Building 42, Students’ Union

Biscuit Poetry is a collaborative poetry and spoken word group comprised of brain injury survivors, volunteers and staff at Headway Southampton. Each week, tucking into a different biscuit inspires them to write a poem. The Biscuit Poets will perform a selection of their poetry, offering an entertaining, unique and inspirational view on life. Coffee and biscuits will of course be provided!

12.30-13.30 CURB Sandwich making workshop – Building 67, Room 1011 

A session to have a discussion on food waste as you prepare sandwiches from unwanted food that would otherwise be thrown in the bin. There will also be a selection of other items brought from Curb’s ‘Food Boutique’ for you to take home.

Wednesday 24th – International Development

10:00-18:00 Schools Plus Inspiration Day, St. Denys Primary School, Dundee Road, Southampton SO17 2NDS

SchoolsPlus Inspiration project aims to inspire children of all ages to learn and to achieve at school, nourishing an enthusiasm for education. These one-off workshops in local schools work with educationally disadvantaged students to raise aspirations. The upcoming activity day will incorporate aspects of drama and English to create a memorable and fun school day!

10.30-12.15 Volunteering Bank Workshop – Boardroom Building 42

10.30-11.15: Getting into Volunteering. A talk for those who are interested in volunteering, but who are unsure where to find out about opportunities both locally and further afield. We will signpost where to find all types of opportunity and also cover important topics such as safeguarding and health and safety.

11.30-12.15: Reflection Session. A talk aimed at those already volunteering, which will take a closer look at drawing upon the skills you are building and how these may enrich your CV and job applications.

16:00-18:00 International Development Information Session – Building 67 Room 1027

Why not take volunteering further abroad? Come and find out volunteering opportunities that you can get involved in overseas.

SchoolsPlus Inspiration project aims to inspire children of all ages to learn and to achieve at school, nourishing an enthusiasm for education. These one-off workshops in local schools work with educationally disadvantaged students to raise aspirations. The upcoming activity day will be incorporate aspects of drama and English to create a memorable and fun school day!

 

Thursday 25th – Environment and Sustainability

 

11:00-13:00 Gardening, Planting and Sprucing up Benches – Portswood Recreation Ground

Come and join us for a morning of planting plants and shrubs and sprucing up old benches at Portswood Rec, one of your local parks a 10 minute walk from campus. Please wear clothes that you don’t mind getting a little mucky. Coffee and cake will be provided.

2.30-16:00 Mass Litter Pick – Portswood

Can you spare an hour of your time to clean up the area that we share? Meet outside Waitrose on Portswood high-street for a mass litter pick like no other. This event is organised in collaboration with OARA (the Outer Avenue Residents’ Association). All equipment, cake and prizes will be provided!

Friday 26th – Bridging the Inequality Gap

14:00-15:00 Solent Mind and You – Building 4 Room 4005, Highfield campus

Krishan Mistry, Supervisory Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner and Anna Fielder, Patient Liaison Team Coordinator will give a workshop which will cover information about mental health and wellbeing, and the volunteering opportunities available at Solent Mind.

17:00-18:30 Dementia Friends Speaker Talk – Building 44 Room 1061, Highfield campus

Dementia Friends is an organisation trained and supported by Alzheimer’s Society, but Southampton Hub’s LinkAges has chosen to support their work by becoming Dementia Friends Champions. At this interactive information session, you will learn more about dementia and how you can help to create dementia friendly communities. At the end, you can become a Dementia Friend and receive a badge and an information card.

19.30-22:00 – Celebration event for those who got involved during the week – Building 42, Bar 2, Highfield campus

We invite you to join us in celebrating your achievements and impact during Student Volunteering Week. We are pleased to announce that there will be guest speeches, certificates of achievement, and tantalising hors d’oeuvres. This event is FREE, and we want you to join us to celebrate!

 

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