Could you fall in love with student volunteering?

Alice Peck, Elected Officer for Community at UBU

Press release issued: 8 February 2013

Students from across the University of Bristol will be sharing their love of volunteering by taking part in a national celebration of the positive difference they are making to their communities as part of Student Volunteering Week (SVW).

Three million UK students volunteer every year to make the world a better place and the University of Bristol Students’ Union (UBU) has been planning a series of events to mark the occasion.

Among the activities planned are a speed-dating night and free pancakes in a bid to encourage more people to give their time and skills for good causes, while having fun and enjoying new experiences.

Activities start tomorrow [9 February] when UBU Volunteers will be taking children from the community project Jolidays to a one-day cookery course. Jolidays is a UBU Volunteering student project providing young carers with free on- day activities and respite weekends.

The jam-packed week of events continues on Monday and includes information stalls, one-off volunteering opportunities, training and, for the second year running, an Ethical Careers Fair.

The Ethical Careers Fair is a collaboration between UBU, Bristol Hub and the University Careers Service where organisations and charities in the third sector attend and advertise jobs, graduate schemes and paid internships.

Alice Peck, Elected Officer for Community at UBU, said: “Being a student at the University of Bristol is not just about studying, but about getting involved with the diverse, exciting city. UBU runs some amazing volunteering projects in the local community and SVW aims to celebrate those students involved as well as encouraging others to sign up.”

UBU Volunteering gets students involved with and helping in the wider Bristol community, building positive relationships and meeting local volunteering requirements in a variety of areas, through both long-term projects and one-off events.

Student Volunteering Week (SVW) aims to showcase the positive difference that students have made, and continue to make, on campus and in their local, national and international communities.

Student volunteering and social action in the UK has a long history, from university settlements and missions in the 19th century, to workcamps for the unemployed in the inter-war period to Campaign and Nuclear Disarmament (CND) protesting and charity work after the Second World War and throughout the later part of the 20th century.

More recently, students have been at the forefront of promoting the sustainability agenda and are taking an increasing interest in social entrepreneurship.

A full schedule of events is available from the UBU Volunteering website.