Last City Challenge of the year: Brave Bold Drama

It was our final City Challenge event of the year at the Careers Service recently. We had the wonderful Brave Bold Drama join us with their challenge. 

City Challenges logo

City Challenges are a programme of events providing students with the opportunity to engage with charities and social enterprises.

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Bristol City of Sanctuary runs a City Challenge event

This month we had Bristol City of Sanctuary on campus to host a City Challenge with us.

City Challenges are a programme of events providing students with the opportunity to engage with charities and social enterprises and support worthwhile organisations, whilst developing skills to improve employability. By taking part in a City Challenge, students gain experience in group working, problem solving, public speaking and presentation, innovative thinking, and community engagement.  

Bristol City of Sanctuary

The Bristol City of Sanctuary logo. 
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One-Off Volunteering – Give two hours and make a lasting change

Hi, I’m Emily, Volunteer Coordinator at Bristol SU. 

Over the past year, the Bristol SU Volunteering Team have been running ‘One-Off Opportunities’.

These are group volunteering opportunities with various organisations across Bristol, that students can take part in on a flexible and ad-hock basis. I love joining in with these sessions, to chat to the fantastic student volunteers and learn why they’ve been some of our most popular opportunities.  

During Student Volunteering Week (Monday 10 to Saturday 15 February), we’ll be providing a range of events, talks and workshops to help you find your perfect volunteering role. This includes a number of One-Off Opportunities.

Be the first to hear about our events by joining our One-Off Opportunities WhatsApp Chat, and sign up to all events on the Student Volunteering Week campaign page.   

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Tips to make the most of your winter break!

With your winter vacation coming up, have you considered how you might spend the break from University?

Bristol harbourside in the snow

The Winter vacation, and the addition of Preparation Week this year between Monday 6 and Friday 10 January, present a valuable opportunity to invest in your future career before your studies restart.

Preparation Week is your chance, reflect on your skills, come to an event, or start making future career plans.

To kick things off, why not sign up for one our intro talks:

Make the most of the careers service during our opening hours which change slightly as we approach the Winter break. Live Chat and opening times for walks-ins are:

  • 9 to 13 December: 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm (Monday to Friday)
  • 21 December to 5 January: Closed
  • From 6 January: 10 am to 4.30 pm (Monday to Friday) – Back to normal!

Read on for our top tips on how to maximise your time during the break and preparation week. 

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City Challenges kick-off the year with The MoSAIC 

City Challenges are a programme of events providing students with the opportunity to engage with charities and social enterprises.  

Students can support worthwhile organisations whilst developing skills to improve employability. By taking part in a City Challenge, students gain experience in group working, problem solving, public speaking and presentation, innovative thinking, and community engagement. 

The MoSAIC (The Museum of Science, the Arts & Interdisciplinary Collaboration)
is a Bristol based business taking STEAM learning to the next level and reducing the disadvantage gap using cross-curricular education. They show young people and educators how creative the STEM subjects really are through online and downloadable teaching resources and accessibly priced in-person creative school workshops aimed at secondary school aged students. The MoSAIC came and hosted a session with us at the Careers Service on Tyndall Avenue. Students worked together and came up with ideas to support the marketing of services and diversification of revenue streams. 

Gareth, founder of The MoSAIC stands in front of a slide with his company's branding on. He is talking animatedly and gesturing.
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Creative community engagement with Sparks Bristol! 

City Challenges went off-campus with a trip to Sparks Bristol on Wednesday 8 May.  

SPARKS Bristol logo

The event started with a tour of the different departments at Sparks and a talk about what Sparks does, why it was founded, and what they stand for.  

Lucy, Volunteer Coordinator

Lucy, Volunteer Coordinator, said

“Sparks Bristol is a sustainability and creativity hub. It’s a community space in the centre of Bristol where we want people to explore what a fairer and greener future looks like. And they consider the climate crisis, the cost of living crisis, and what we can do with an empty, massive building right in the middle of the city.” 

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Student Volunteering Week Panel Event: What can you achieve through volunteering?

In conjunction with Student Volunteering Week, the Bristol PLUS Award team held a panel event where a brilliant panel of student volunteers shed light on the holistic benefits of volunteering.

Looking to start volunteering but not sure how to get started? Dive into this blog to learn about the key takeaways from our panellists.

Our panellists included:

  • Aditya Verma – Socio-Legal Studies (MSc)
  • Dinara Shaimakhanova – Education (PhD) 
  • Charmaine Sew – International Social and Public Policy (BSc)
  • Rowan O’Clarey – Mathematics (MSci) 
  • Ione Howells – Environmental Policy and Management (MSc)
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Finding work experience as a social scientist

Lots of social science students are looking for work experience but are struggling to find something that’s right for them. If you’re searching for valuable work experience to help you in your career plans, here are some ideas to help you in your search.

Top tips from the public sector

To find out more about work experience in the public sector, I spoke to James Darley from Transform Society. He was clear that there are often plenty of opportunities to get work experience in the public sector, it just requires some research to find them.

Councils can advertise opportunities for local students on their website, so it’s worth signing up to their jobs mailing lists. Bristol City, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire are our local councils.

A view across Bristol harbourside, including houseboats and multi-coloured houses
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How volunteering can transform your university experience

Volunteering in your local community connects you with others and creates positive change.

Over the past academic year, the team at Bristol Hub have supported over 180 Bristol students to engage in social action.

Bristol Hub manager Sorcha Young shares the impact that volunteering can have:

Bristol Hub students volunteering

“Social action takes many forms. It can range from donating money to good causes to creating campaigns or running community-based events. I love making a change by getting hands-on and volunteering in my community.”

Niamh Harrington, Bristol Hub one-off Volunteering Coordinator 

How volunteering enhances wellbeing 

85% of Bristol Hub’s student volunteers agreed that participation enhanced their well-being during university. Where there are many challenges to university, such as loneliness, academic pressures and an overwhelming amount to do, volunteering provides a space to escape and connect.

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