If you think students spend all their spare time avoiding studying, going out with their mates and having a good time then you'd be right. Well our student bloggers do anyway. While they assure us they don't slack on the study, they've got a lot to answer for when it comes to enjoying themselves while volunteering.

All | Emma | Olivia | Fiona | Sammy | Ashley | Rochelle | Tom | TomG | Harry

Wednesday Aug 05, 2009

Lifetracks

The Lifetracks website, developed by the wonderful people at YouthNet is going to be for young people form the ages of 16 onwards giving them information on what they can do after they finish mainstream education i.e. GCSE's. It will feature the three main areas of work, training and study. At the moment, this website is currently in its very early stages and went live on the 24^th of June 2009 for all the members of Lifetracks and was introduced at the House of Commons, but as it's still in progress there's still a lot of online volunteering to be done here. I started off an online project member. I was just browsing do-it.org and looking for some virtual volunteering when I can across this.

The position sounded very important to me as I knew that I would be getting joint responsibility for managing a project. It included involved the group members in the layout of the website, the content, what prizes we should give to users of the website who have achieved their goals, how an article should be set out, what ways should a message be conveyed (e.g. podcast, interview, video, article), what kind of problems do you think there are with current websites about careers, work and study and what do young people really need to know before starting a new job or embarking on study.

You really felt that you were listened to ask the YouthNet members who were in charge of the discussions also commented on your ideas sometimes which showed that they valued your opinion. Even more, you go your own profile page which you could add cool stuff (I added a comic strip to mine!) and you could post your own blog. It involved a look of proofing and editing features of the 'website' as well as analysing and researching for what should go into this new website but the YouthNet team made it fun. So if you are looking for something useful to do in your spare time and are looking to gain some virtual skills and meet some new people, then sign up as either a project team member or even a photographer!

Posted by Rochelle ( 12:01 PM )
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A month down the line

I have now completed a month of my internship. Doing an internship with an MP has its similarities and differences when compared with volunteering. It is similar to volunteering as it is unpaid and I only get my travel expenses refunded. On the other hand, I am acknowledged as working on behalf of Lynne whereas the volunteers are not.

Those considered to be volunteers in the constituency office are those who just come to help with elections in the form of canvassing, delivering post and stuffing envelopes. They do not have to attend a formal interview whereas I did which is very necessary for the casework internship as you need to meet specific requirements which include a good standard of letter writing, good telephone manner and an inquisitive mind. Finally, when you are an intern, you are given much more responsibility than a volunteer and can liaise with constituents, council members and ministers. You are the MP's voice whereas the volunteers are not.

The internship has got more challenging as I am now dealing with phone calls as well as letters. Resolving an issue then involves writing a letter to a minister, social services, police or to the council. The most challenging are the immigration cases. I find it very hard to listen to the stories of people whose application has been rejected or who have not received an answer about their immigration status for several years and so are stuck in some sort of unfortunate limbo. Unfortunately, when an application to remain in this country has been rejected, it then becomes a legal issue should a constituent wish to challenge a decision.

Posted by Rochelle ( 11:57 AM )
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Monday Jun 01, 2009

Volunteering with politicians

The summer is finally here and is going full steam ahead. So is my volunteering.

On the 22^nd of May, I started a casework internship with a Liberal Democrat MP (not naming names due to issues of confidentiality). When I finished my exams, I knew I wanted to do something different, for the summer, from the current volunteering that I am doing, which is based mostly around research, law, young people and music. I am currently doing a degree that combines Law and Politics.

So, when I went to a meeting with my study supervisor at my university, she advised me to also focus on the politics side of my degree. This is when I started looking at the website of Working for an MP, where I then found the above opportunity, went for the interview and got the position. Although I have just started the position, I find it thoroughly different from anything I have pursued before. As a casework intern, I have already learnt effective methods of referring people's problems to specific council members, how to maintain effective communication with a constituent, how to summarize large bits of information and how to write effective letters.

As well as this, I have gained a wider understanding of the campaigns that this MP is passionate about, through the pre – election preparation. My previous assumptions have been challenged as I have realised that an office of an MP can be extremely busy, that they do try to act as advocates of the general public and that, even in today's world, they can still be said to be fully representative of the views of the public. In the future, I am also going to be able to sit in with this MP when she has meetings with the public just so I know what kind of issues are present in this constituency and am also going to take full responsibility for helping people with their problems through the telephone.

Things also took a very exciting turn for me, this month, as I am now not very far from qualifying as a generalist advisor with the CAB. I have just finished a course which mainly involved me practising my interviewing skills on a variety of legal topics that included employment and benefits. After this practice, I could finally be unleashed on the general public! From this course, I learnt that I had to go over many of the legal principles that I had learnt already, had to slightly amend my communication technique and mainly just had to show the client that I was listening to their problem. I think the hardest thing for me in the course was learning that there is not always going to be a positive solution for the client. In many cases, all we can really do is listen as their problem has gone too far.

Lastly, I also visited Portcullis House, Westminster on behalf of IARS. I went to a debate, conducted with some politicians and young people that centred on the issues of Young People and the Criminal Justice System. My objective was to take notes on the debate so I could write an article for IARS Youth Voice Journal based around this. I found this day very disappointing as the politicians who were present did not really answer any questions clearly. This debate was meant to produce change and was a chance for politicians to show that they are on a young person's side. Instead, the politicians just churned out information that we had heard before and surprisingly, were not such effective speakers. I have yet to meet up with other IARS volunteers and write this up. I will keep you posted.

Here's to next month and let's hope it is as good as this month was. I will also be talking about Lifetracks and how people can still get involved!

Posted by Rochelle ( 3:02 PM )
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Tuesday Apr 28, 2009

Getting the edge over other students

Volunteering is very enjoyable as I have discovered.  There is one more month until I finish my university exams. I can already taste the freedom. Then my volunteering commitments can proceed with full speed ahead until the end of the summer. I have decided to take a constructive break in my exam revision by writing this blog entry.

Apart from my volunteering commitment with the youth done through Independent Academic Research Studies, the last Thursday and Friday was spent on a 2 day residential as organised by Participation Works. I am part of the youth advisory group PW EAR and we are currently in the process of developing an evaluative tool that can be used to assess resources that are created to stimulate and develop the skills of young people. Throughout both the days, we learnt how to be a good trainer and a general how to evaluate resources whether large or small. I also learnt how to use the flip camera for the first time in my life and am now going to be recommending this as an excellent tool for marketing. On the Friday, we were more productive as we decided on the name for our evaluative group, designed a logo for our group and creating a marketing video on flip. We also came up with a lot of ideas on how we can market our new brand/ tool. And of course, the great thing about a residential is that you learn to bond with the other members of the group really easily and the work is done at a much more relaxed pace than if there was just one day set aside for all tasks.

Volunteering with the Disability Law Service is challenging but very rewarding as per usual. Sometimes, people who call do want to tell you their entire life story and then only at the end, one would notice a legal problem that we can help them with. It is very sad really because you can feel the desperation and exasperation in their voices when they call up as usually they have been referred to a countless number of organisations before they can get any help. In the future, I might be going on a Samaritans communications training course due to being a volunteer with the Disability Law Service and so am looking forward to that.

I often find it easier to talk and advise people face to face which is what I have to do as a trainee adviser with the CAB. This is mainly because you have the very useful tool of body language on which my training from when volunteering with the Police Service has proved to be very useful. Last Friday we had a district training day which was useful as not only was I given training on the new Employment law legislation that deals with problems at work but was also highlighted to the current gigantic problem that is debt and was introduced to mortgage rescue schemes and debt relief orders. I am only in my second year of university studying Law but am already learning about legal rules that would only be dealt with in my final year. Hence, through my volunteering I have an academic and vocational edge over the other students.

Posted by Rochelle ( 9:35 AM )
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Friday Mar 20, 2009

My commitments

What are my volunteering commitments? I mainly volunteer within the social welfare law stream as I am currently doing a degree in Law. My first volunteering commitment within this sector was with Independent Academic Research Studies (IARS), who is a not- for- profit youth think tank that empower young people (16 -25) to change social policy and practice. They do this by providing young people with training in research and human rights. With this training, young participants are able to take part in stages or all of their research projects. The current project that they are work on is Young People and Social Cohesion which looks at why most young people do not want to integrate themselves into society. At the end, recommendations for policy change will be presented to local government ministers. Then through volunteering for IARS, I was introduced to the Law Centres Federation, the organisation that manages the law centres around the country. So far, with them, I have co - organised workshops centred around young people and have given speeches at the Law Centres Annual Conference and the Advice Alliance Conference. Within the next few weeks, I am about to start a new project with them which I will let you know about in my next piece of writing.

Lastly, my two other main voluntary commitments include training as an adviser for the CAB and volunteering for the Disability Law Service.

Since I also enjoy creative writing, in my spare time, I write for the 405, the Fat Blog and youlikewelike.com

Of course, I will go into more detail with my next input for this blog and you'll just have to keep on reading.

All I will say for now is enjoy your experiences. And if you do not have any, get some. And if you feel about writing about its awesomeness, please do!

Till next time then...

Rochelle xxx 

Posted by Rochelle ( 3:30 PM )
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Why volunteering ticks all the boxes

Hi everyone! The name is Rochelle, am 21 and I am currently in my second year of university. My university and volunteering commitments take up most of my time and work is always secondary. I wanted to contribute to this do-it.org blog as I wanted to improve my creative writing skills. So I thought what better subject matter to talk about other than my volunteering?

Also, I would like to highlight to other students that volunteering can not only give you transferable skills but can also provide you with that technical experience that you will not necessary get with your academic studying. I know that lecturers and even teachers always say that it is no good to get a job as it will interfere with your studies. They are partly right but it is still very important to get that experience that will make you stand out. Volunteering, unlike work, does not have to be time consuming nor is it always necessary to work in a pressurized environment. There are always going to be people who will be very willing to help you develop to the best of your potential and at the end there is not fear of being fired or being reviewed on performance. It is one form of employment where you can tell the employer what you want to do and what skills you would like to improve or achieve. There are no formal ties established and not targets to be met. I have also felt that everyday is different and whenever I have gone for job interviews I have always managed to use examples from my volunteering commitments to demonstrate to the employer how I would react in different situations. Lastly, employers are very impressed if you have given up your time for no remuneration. Just think, if you cannot get a job due to lack of experience, then do not just sit on the sidelines and do nothing.

Get yourself out there by getting transferable skills from volunteering so that you can put these skills into practice when you do get a job. No one ever said anything comes easy!

Posted by Rochelle ( 3:24 PM )
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