Student Volunteering Award 2021

Posted on 18 June 2021

LLS student wins a second award for her volunteering role in the local community

We are delighted to announce that Caroline Fairclough (UG in Linguistics with French, Dept. Language and Linguistic Science) has won the Student Volunteering Award 2021 for her outstanding contribution in the charity Musical Connections. This is the second award in a row for Caroline who also bagged the same award in 2020.

The charity Musical Connections runs projects for older, isolated & vulnerable people across York. As well as attending the weekly session, Caroline has gone above and beyond to support Musical Connections and the wonderful work it does, from helping plan activities to making new members feel welcome. Caroline supported the team to stay in touch with almost 200 members over the pandemic, at a time members needed it the most. (Nominated by Abigail at Musical Connections)

The Student Volunteering Awards are held every year in the Summer Term, recognising and celebrating students who have made an incredible difference through their volunteering. Students are nominated for awards by local schools and charities, who wish to thank students for the generous donation of their time and skills. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic the awards were unable to be held in person, so students were celebrated online via the Careers and Placements volunteering social media. The nominations show the positive impact these students have made to the local community.

“Pre covid, Caroline attended sessions weekly with us. Over the past year, she has been an ASSET, becoming a telephone befriender to so many of our beneficiaries, and calling them weekly for the past year. We are a small team of 4, trying to keep in touch with almost 200 members, so Caroline's involvement with us has been second to none. She is irreplaceable in our eyes. Our beneficiaries - most over the age of 70, now view her as a granddaughter figure, as she has made such a lasting impression on their lives. Not only has she made weekly calls, but also been in touch via weekly zooms, emails & messaging. For most people Caroline's age, this would be far too much of an ask. However, she takes it completely in her stride, as second nature, and fully understands the project as a whole. We honestly do not know what we would have done, had we not had Caroline with us over the past year. We are dreading Caroline graduating and leaving us, as she really has become part of our team! Although, we know that with the skills she has picked up volunteering with us, she can truly turn her hand to anything, and will be successful in whichever path she chooses” - Musical Connections