Tuned in, turned on and forever hooked: Student Volunteering
Last year I had the privilege of spending two really interesting training and facilitation days with the team up at the University of Cumbria Students Union (UCSU). We did some work on how to embed volunteering across the university, focusing on sharing key and consistent messages for everyone involved, and setting out clear expectations. What I realised in working with them, was that they were already delivering great volunteering opportunities which were firmly based within the local community, and they had a fantastic rapport and relationship with local groups and individuals.
This was a long way from my own student volunteering days in the early 1990s. Back then, the options as far as I could see were focused mainly on campaigning and fundraising activities - the stalwart of the student union; and usually relating to issues and places further afield. And please don't misunderstand me - these activities are valuable and necessary; however, I can't help but think how much I would have loved to have got more involved in some of the types of opportunities being showcased in this year's Student Volunteering Week.
In my work with volunteer-involving organisations and managers of volunteers, I am noticing much more engagement with student volunteers which is really encouraging, however from time to time I do still encounter some cynicism about involving students. Such as their 'questionable motivations' - (they're only in it for their CV or UCAS points) and the fact that 'they never stay on beyond the training'. As you can imagine, these statements always help to generate interesting debate in training and networking sessions, and I completely accept that there are some activities which perhaps don't lend themselves well to the short term or flexibilty (sometimes, though not always) required by students.
However.... as last week's Thoughtful Thursday, focusing on short term opportunities shows, we have a wider responsibility to ensure that whatever the initial reason a volunteer has for taking that first step - that we give them a reason to get excited about volunteering. To get them tuned in and switched on to the challenges and rewards that only volunteering can deliver. And, more importantly, to ensure that they are forever hooked - not necessarily with your project or organisation, but with volunteering in general. So they will make it part of their life, returning to it to make their contribution in both the short and long term and in whatever way works best for them.
Do take time to read some of the great blogs and links being posted up this week which are focusing on student volunteering - here on i-volunteer, on university websites and via the twitter feed #svw2012 And, seeing as it's Thursday, we thought it would be good for you to share your experiences of involving student volunteers via our Thoughtful Thursday tweetchat.
What activities do students deliver for you? What sort of volunteering did you enjoy as a student? And, how would you like to involve students more in volunteering with your organisation?
As always, you can contribute here using the comments section and via twitter with the hashtag #ttvolmgrs It's a great opportunity to share your experiences and ideas and even get a little inspired. We look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Thank you for taking time to comment here - some great insight and experiences we can all take something from.
I'm getting my summary of yesterday's tweetchat in early as will be out and about next week. You can take a look here: http://bit.ly/zMapU5
I think it was a really useful TT and hopefully an interesting perspective to add to Student Volunteering week. A BIG thank you to all the Volunteer Managers, Volunteer Centres and Voluntary & Community groups who took part, keeping the momentum going throughout the day.
See you next week!
I ran a project that certainly got students hooked called the Emily & Constance Project. I had 2 students who wanted to findout what volunteering was and they were given me for a whole week. Panic to start with, but I devised a plan and called in a few favours from some Volunteer co ordinators I know. I planned to give them a basic wide introduction to all the different aspects in the voluntary sector that I could muscle up in 1 week of my work.
So here was their outline...
Monday am - meeting with Bridport Town Council and a group wishing to start up a community orchard and being supported by BTC with land and funding help - much community discussion and they contributed ideas too. Then off to be interviewed by local press about the week they were doing Monday pm - Off to the local V team to see what they did, join in afternoons activities and also take part in some community research into youth for WEssex FM - who they were thrilled to meet and chat to, plus they got goodies from the V office - the highlight of the day!
Tuesday - off to a local recycling project to see bio fuels made, help with separating paper/plastics/cardboard then trying out the rickshaws used to collect some of this stuff - after lunch took part in making goods out of recycled goods to sell at a fundraising event for this project.
Wed am - charity shop day with a reason - they were going to visit the HQ and see where the money was used at a hospice - they loved dressing up to serve the public, displaying goods and learning about how a shop works and the charity itself. In the afternoon they went off to a library session being run by students as part of their D of E and spoke to them to get ideas of how they could run one where they lived and activities they could undertake in a library other than reading. Fab project Students running the library but that's another story.
Thursday - full on morning with me as it was our AGM so they got to meet Trustees, see how a Volunteer Centre works, make teas and also ask questions. Later on that day, off gardening with a sensory loss team so they learnt some sign and how to communicate with sensory loss people in volunteering.
Friday - Off to the Charity shops HQ to see fundraising team, help with archiving and putting packs together then a visit to the children's hospice to meet the staff and see what the money was for and chat to a terminally ill child who showed them around and loved talking to them.
Then back to the volunteer centre to write up some thoughts for an article and a report and tell me the best bits and who they wouldn't recommend to other students.
Please note all through the week I was Mrs Taxi to everything but I briefed them fully about what was next and after asked them what they thought BUT what came out of all this was they came back for more in the major summer hols and brought friends- they wanted stuff to do for 1 day a week as a group so this is no problem we had days out volunteering with various organisation - but then guess what - they later went on to volunteer with some of those orgs in the next hols - they said it was addictive - and don't we know that well. And the Emily & constance project - well that continued with these two just wanting to volunteer and me providing the opps, they learnt much, were exposed to people they would never have been and over 2 years took part in many different activities. where are they Now - at Uni making a difference and encouraging others to try a bit of volunteering. The original motivation was always to findout what was volunteering and not for cv or ucas - just to broaden the horizon.
I have learned to set aside the assumptions I make about people; experience tells me that it's easy to get it wrong. I've developed more of a "let's just try it and see" approach. We regularly recruit students and on the whole it's been great. Most of them stay much longer than we predicted and longer than they intended. I sometimes wonder if there is some level of addiction involved in working in a CAB! So, even if it is apparent that someone iniatially volunteered because they thought it would look good on their CV (it does) or that it would increase their employability (it does), I think that's fine. Because motivations change throughout the volunteering experience. Departing student volunteers rarely cite "it looks good on my cv" as the thing they liked most about volunteering.
I really want to encourage students volunteering within the police service more going forward, and my personal opionion is "so what" if its for their CV - I wish I had such opportunities (many years ago) when I was at college and think its a great way to gain "work" experience, plus I think my organisation can learn from students, particularly in terms of what they think about the communities they live in. I have actually encouraged my niece to become a police volunteer (she is 17;at college) and this is initially short term to assist us with a national conference we are planning. We are happy to have an extra pair of hands even if it is just a few months!
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