It’s the Student Volunteering Fair this week—a perfect time to explore how sharing your time can enable you to give back and also shape your future.
As well as helping others, volunteering is a brilliant way to meet new people, boost your CV, and support great causes. It can help you discover your values and what matters to you, which is a great way to kickstart your career thinking and shape your career goals.
It’s also a great way to build key skills for the workplace, so of course – volunteering can be used towards achieving your Bristol PLUS Award. To inspire you, we’ve asked PLUS Award achievers to share their volunteering stories.
Christina Tanner – Volunteer with St Mungo’s, homeless charity.
‘I chose St Mungo’s because I was looking to engage with the Bristol community on issues that I was seeing firsthand. St Mungo’s supported people on and off the streets and ensured their journey to feeling more secure and supported in life was as positive and easy as possible.’
‘Every member of staff was kind and thoughtful and made sure I was comfortable before and after sessions, especially when discussing difficult topics. I couldn’t recommend it more to another student looking to volunteer.’
As well as volunteering, Christina used her part time job as a babysitter to achieve her Bristol PLUS Award:
‘It was easy to make use of one afternoon a week for volunteering. Working alongside my studies was always something I had planned to do – so when I realised it could count towards the Bristol PLUS Award, it was a perfect match!’
Can’t commit to a long term volunteering role? There are plenty of one-off opportunities to get involved with too, allowing you to give back to the community, and try something new at the same time!
Lara – allotment volunteer with Bristol University Conservation Group
Lara achieved her PLUS Award last year, after volunteering at the BUCG allotment. You can volunteer with opportunities like this as a one off, for as little as one afternoon, or get involved longer term.
‘I was keen to get involved in allotment volunteering because I felt disconnected from conservation and grassroots environmental activities at uni, and I enjoyed being able to be hands on and outdoors (and not in the library).’
‘Volunteering at the university’s allotments has given me space to connect with my community outside my course and reasserted how much I value participating in non-profit work. This has informed my career goals as I have now been applying to work experience and graduate schemes in this sector.
I would say to others, find something that interests you, look outside the box because that’s what’s going to keep you most engaged and help you get the most out of the experience.’
Ready to get involved?
The SU’s Student Volunteering Fair is taking place this week, Wednesday 8 October 3 pm – 6 pm at the Ansom Rooms. It’s a great place to get started and find the perfect volunteering role for you. You can also search volunteering opportunities anytime on the volunteering hub website.
The PLUS Award team will also be there to answer all your PLUS questions, so pop in and say hi!
Bristol PLUS Award registration is open now, until the registration deadline of 20 February. Log in to mycareer and click on the Bristol PLUS Award to get started.