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 | Sammy | Ashley | Rochelle | Tom | TomG | Harry

Sunday Jul 15, 2007

Post exam developments

 Hello again everyone, I hope you are all well and enjoying the beautiful English weather. I wont have to be worrying about it for too much longer as I am just in the process of packing to jet off to beautiful Dubrovnik for a family holiday.

Quite a bit has happened since I last blogged. I have just started my handover period at the Liverpool Guild Of Students, ready to take over as Vice President Communications at the start of August. I have also spent the last month as a volunteer play worker at the Greenhouse Project in Toxteth.

After returning from my holiday visiting Katy in Spain and having adequately chilled out and relaxed after a mad term I wanted to get back out into the community and make a difference. Also on a purely selfish level it would be fun and get me out of the flat. An opportunity arose for me to volunteer in the Greenhouse Multi-cultural Play and Arts Project in Toxteth.

The Greenhouse Project was a fantastic opportunity to utilise the skills that I had acquired the year before working as a paid Play worker for the Wirral Play Council. Part of the training for the Wirral Play Council was a Level 1 NVQ in play, although the course was a lot of common sense, the course bought it all together and added practical advise, there where some incredibly important sections on Child safety and spotting the signs of abuse, although horrible to sit through the it is important to make sure that we are all clued up and know which procedures to follow. Working at the Greenhouse project was a great experience, luckily for the first week the weather was brilliant so we were able to get out and play football, Frisbee and tick. Playing outside in a safe environment is one of the most rewarding elements of play and the children seemed to love the competition and activity as well.

While at the Greenhouse project I was able to forge new links for the LSCA, as Networking Officer it is part of my responsibility to find and initiate new opportunities for LSCA volunteers. On September the 29^th the LSCA and the Greenhouse Project will be carrying out a day of volunteering. The one off project will look to get Freshers hooked on the spirit of volunteering and greatly regenerate the Greenhouse Project. Over the next month I will look to help facilitate this project, but as I will be working full time at the Guild, the issue is going to be balancing LSCA and the Guild. I would love to carry on volunteering as much as I have this year, however this isn't going to be feasible, so I have to be realistic as to what I can achieve.

It's bye for now and will write more soon.

Tom x

Posted by Tom ( 5:58 PM )
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Monday May 14, 2007

Start of something new.

Hello again everyone.

Apologies for the slow blogging, I have had a really busy couple of weeks revising and studying. I have now  finally finished my exams and I am counting down the hours till the flight to Grenada. The last two weeks have seen large changes within the LSCA. Over the last year within the LSCA I have been the Vice Chair, however I have recently been appointed the Chair of the LSCA following the previous chairs resignation. My role ovver the next month or so will be fascilitating the smooth handover to the new LSCA trustees.

Next year my role will change, I will be the Networking officer for the LSCA and a registered trustee of the charity. Next year I will be taking on the full time payed position of Vice President Communications Officer, this means that my original plans to run for chair of LSCA had to change, I was unable to provide the LSCA with the commitment due to the job. However the role of Networking Officer ties in fantastically well with my job next year as VP Comms Officer and is no where near as time consuming as the role of Chair.

When I return from Spain I will be helping fellow board member Amy organise a collection to take place around halls in Liverpool, collecting clothes, books, cuddly toys and other unwanted items that students leave when they depart halls. All the items collected will then, where possible, be passed straight onto the voluntary organisations and if not will be sold to raise funds for the pre-designated organisations and projects.

I am also really looking forward to the Trustee Board handover session on the 24th of May, this will be a briliant opportunity to meet the trustees who will be taking the LSCA forward next year. Heading then into town for a meal in the LSCAs' spiritural home, The Quater, and then on for drinks.

I would just like to say a massive congratulations to all the runners who took part in the Liverpool Womens 10k raising alot of money for the LSCAs numerous projects. Id like to say a massive well done to a really close friend of mine Vik for completing the 10k.

I hope everyone is well.

Speak soon when I return from sunny Spain.

 

Tom xx

 

Posted by Tom ( 9:58 AM )
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Monday Apr 30, 2007

Hello from Liverpool

Hi, I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, my name is Tom Whelligan-Fell, Welly to all my mates, I am a second year geographer from the University of Liverpool. I was born in the Middle of Liverpool about 5 minutes walk from my current house but was bought up on the other side of the Mersey in the beautiful Wirral where I lived for 18 years until moving back to Liverpool.

My family has always encouraged involvement in the local community and my parents are both passionate about volunteering (my parents met through volunteering) so you can say it is in my blood. My first experience of volunteering actively was when I was part of the West Kirby Physically Handicapped Able Bodied (PHAB) club, this was one of the most rewarding experiences that I had, I was able to volunteer around my studies and it was just down the road. I met some of the most inspiring people I know, people who had come through so much and where flying high. After a year at PHAB I was appointed onto the Committee this was my first experience of organizing projects and events. During my time at school I took part in a number of other volunteering activities, I was a reading Mentor, aiding lower year pupils with reading difficulties. Volunteering through sport was a fantastic personal development opportunity and the chance to coach my favorite sport. I had been the Captain of Hoylake St Catherines Badminton 1st team and gained accreditation to coach badminton. I coached badminton for 2 years I loved every second of it, getting out and playing a sport I loved while teaching aspiring badminton players the skills I had picked up over the years.

Leaving for Liverpool University was a massive jump. I had come from a very close group of friends and found it hard to adjust to life in halls originally, a lot of jocks and bimbo’s not the people I would normally chose to mix with. During freshers week I signed up with the Liverpool Student Community Action, this is the Volunteer group within the Guild of Students (SU). I went along to the first meeting with a tiny bit of apprehension, like I did with everything in freshers week. However when I entered the office I was made to feel so welcome. Within a week they had be signed up as a trustee of the LSCA, that is where the fun really began. I love my volunteering because I love the atmosphere, the people I work with and the challenges that arise all the time. The volunteering got me through my first year of university and has allowed me to mix with fantastic people. They are not only people I work with but they are my friends and the people who I socialise with outside of Uni.

This is just a bit about myself but I will continue to keep writing, next year will be a really interesting year for me with lots of changes happening.

Love Tom x

Posted by Tom ( 2:52 PM )
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