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.

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Thursday Mar 26, 2009

Paying to Volunteer?

A few weeks ago some members of the volunteering committee, and the volunteering office at my university, organised a weekend of 1-2 day volunteering opportunities.

Over 150 students took part, doing anything from painting to gardening to creating a dramatic play on community history. Everyone (including me) seemed to really enjoy it, and it gave a really good taster for how rewarding a bit of volunteer work can be.

The interesting thing though was that to put on just one weekend of short-term volunteering opportunities, it cost the volunteering office around £4,000.

I found this interesting because sometimes it just seems so perverse to have to pay in order to give your time up for something. It's not as if Gordon Brown has been paying money to senior bankers just so that he can bail out their failing institutions.

Hang on a minute......

One student asked me what events we were planning next week, and although I knew Just Do It was only held annually, I didn't realise that this was because it cost so much.

I can't see a way around it: the money was used for essential things like food, equipment and transport for the volunteers; and it was given to volunteer organisations that are usually pretty strapped for cash anyway.

But after getting that feel-good factor (perhaps naïvely) on the way home from a project – the one where you feel like you've actually helped out somewhere – the fact that your free time and hard work alone was not enough can feel a little bit demoralising.

Like I said, I'm not sure what can change, and I certainly don't think it's the fault of the organisations that were accepting volunteers. But whilst I could see why you might have to pay to volunteer in Africa; or how the popularity of National Trust conservation holidays might lead to slightly inflated prices; I didn't realise that even with non-residential volunteering sometimes you might still have to pay to give up your time.

It's a shame, because for students who might be a little dubious of long term volunteer commitments, weekend volunteering 'tasters' seem to work really well.

Ideas on a S.A.E. please!

Harry.

Posted by Harry ( 10:23 PM )
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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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Tuesday Mar 17, 2009

From the classroom to a retreat centre

Hi everyone, my name's Emma and I am seventeen years old. I live in Lancashire but my birthplace is Liverpool.

I live at home with my mum and dad I am in my first year at college studying for my A-Levels. My favorite subject is Philosophy. After college I hope to attend university to study for a degree in Philosophy and Theology. I aim to teach Philosophy one day. I enjoy writing, reading and learning. I also enjoy shopping and of lots of volunteering!

I also enjoy my voluntary work and as soon as my summer exams have ended I hope to increase the time I have to volunteer! I am currently working with young people with disabilities both in and outside the classroom environment and hope to learn more about youth work and teaching during my time volunteering. I am hoping to attend retreat centre in order to enhance my experience and understanding in the summer holidays. In September I aim to complete a course in youth work and German (hopefully) as I have a pen friend in Germany whom I write to regularly.

Posted by Emma ( 12:12 PM )
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