Nicola ClemmitThis week celebrates the eleventh National Student Volunteering Week. Running from 20th to 25th February 2012, Student Volunteering Week 2012, led by Volunteering England and sponsored by Santander, raises awareness of volunteers in further and higher education. This campaign celebrates the scale and the significance of this voluntary market, as well as encouraging and supporting students and organisations in voluntary activities across the country.
Since they have started university, an amazing 63% of students take part in some form of formal voluntary activity, giving just over 3 million hours to communities in the 2009/10 academic year. This illustrates an encouraging and postive trend with Student Volunteering supporting both students in their employability and life expereince as well as communities in their survival and strength of service.
According to the Bursting the Bubble: Students, Volunteering and the Community (2010) publication, 95% of students who volunteer are driven to do so out of a desire to improve things or to help people, a clear sign of the importance of our younger generation and the sense of community responsibility they take on themselves. Volunteering also has the added benefit of enhancing employability, with 51% of recent graduates under 30 years of age in paid work saying that volunteering helped them secure a job.
So, if you have already or are currently volunteering in York, let’s use this week to celebrate this essential and valueable contribution you, and the rest of the York student volunteering population are making to our local community. If you haven’t yet entered the worthwhile and beneficial world of volunteering why not take this week as an opportunity to try it out and become more engaged in our community? With the diverse range of acitivites you could help out with there is something out there to match everyone’s interests.
There are many diverse benefits to volunteering. Here are a few:
- Aids local communities and organisations providing valuable services to those in need;
- Enhances your employability and enables you to develop the personal skills that employers will value;
- Gives you the opportunity to apply your school, college or university learning to a new context;
- Develops your ability to work as part of a team;
- Builds your confidence and self-esteem while making new friends and having fun;
- Develops skills and talents that are needed in an increasingly competitive job market;
- Enhances self-awareness;
- Experience challenging and meaningful work;
- CV enhancement;
- Make a difference.
To get a better idea of the value of student volunteering take a look at this two minute video created by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) – click here for more info.
If you would like to become a volunteer or find out more information on what volunteering entails and what opportunities there are in York, a good starting point for students is to speak to your college or university’s volunteering service. Usually based within your Careers Service, students’ union or student support service, your volunteer co-ordinator should be able to provide you with details of volunteering positions within the institution, students’ union and local community.
For students studying at the University of York visit the Careers Service webpage for further information – click here.
If you are studying at York St John University the following page is a good starting point - click here.
Additionally the York Council for Voluntary Service (York CVS) is a great place to explore volunteer opportunities - click here.
Volunteering England is also a useful source of information and resources – click here.
Keep up to date on the latest Student Volunteering Week 2012 news – click here.
Students really are doing some brilliant work to make life in York brighter and better – let’s shout about it. Why not let us know what contribution you have made or are making in York?
Well done and a big thank you to York’s student volunteers for the all your hard work and valuable contribution you make to keeping York great and driving our city and our community forward towards even higher levels of greatness.
