This academic year we have run some amazing City Challenges, boosting students’ skills and helping local community organisations to increase their profile and impact.
More than 90 students from across all years and a range of disciplines have given an afternoon of their time to help eight non-profits solve a real dilemma they were facing.
In February this year, we welcomed student organisation Bristol Hub, who wanted ideas on how to recruit more student volunteers and raise their profile and reach with students.
Bristol Walk Fest joined us in April, looking for ideas to attract a younger crowd to their annual event and brainstorm fundraising ideas.
Last month we hosted Bristol Cider Project, a University of Bristol initiative, which needed ideas to source windfall and waste apples from Bristol residents to make into a community cider.
“Overall, the City Challenges Programme was instrumental in providing me with valuable insights into how community-focused initiatives can create a positive impact on society.” City Challenge student
Benefits to Students
One of the main purposes of City Challenges is to help students develop skills that will benefit them in their future career development.
We asked students what skills they believed they gained by taking part in a City Challenge. 94% said they learned teamwork skills, 79% felt they improved their public speaking abilities and 77% said they also developed innovation skills.
Other gains included time management, confidence, communication and making new friends. These are all skills that participants can talk through with the Information and Guidance Team at the Careers Service so we can help students maximise the experience for their CV and career search.
“City Challenges are really fun and you meet loads of new people. Plus, the skills you learn are really good for your future career and your CV.” Katie Thornton, Bristol Cider City Challenge student
“As you work in groups to solve the challenge, you develop skills like teamwork, communication and consulting, as well as challenging other people’s ideas.” Hannah, Bristol Hub City Challenge.
Benefits to the organisation
By doing a City Challenge students can genuinely make a big difference to a charity. All the organisations this year were blown away by the students’ ideas and creative approach to solving issues. One clear advantage that students bring is their understanding of social media and app technology.
“Today’s experience is going to impact our project very positively because there were so many new ideas that I and my team hadn’t thought of. I think the greatest thing about this experience is that we can tap into a hive mind.” Kasha, Bristol Cider Project
City Challenges and Bristol PLUS Award
As well as being a valuable experience in itself, a City Challenge is a great way to get your Bristol PLUS Award! Each City Challenge takes place over one afternoon and counts as a minimum of 3.5 hours towards the award. This year more than 50% of City Challenge students were working towards their PLUS award, and 25% had already done it.
“I’m currently pursuing the Bristol PLUS Award. This requires me to take up a few activities, one of which is volunteering. I chose the afternoon City Challenge as it allows me to be flexible with my time and contribute just a part of my day.“ Apoorva, City Challenge and Bristol PLUS student
Would you like to do a City Challenge next term? The Careers Service will be running more challenges in the Autumn. Sign up for the City Challenges mailing list and we’ll be in touch when we have dates lined up.