Celebrating student volunteering in York
Posted on 19 February 2018
Students volunteering with YUSU’s KEEN York project which offers free interactive sports sessions for children with special educational needs.
Students who have made an outstanding voluntary contribution in the local area will be celebrated on 17 May, 2018.
The ceremony will be held at King’s Manor and hosted by BBC Radio York’s Elly Fiorentini.
In 2016-17, University of York students gave nearly 66,000 hours of their time to volunteering, equating to over £473,000 if they were paid the minimum wage.
The opening of nominations comes at the beginning of National Student Volunteering Week (19 – 25 February 2018), when events will be held to celebrate the impact students have made through volunteering in the hope of inspiring even more students to get involved.
York students volunteer for a vast range of projects, including care support for older members of the community, conservation work and support for local children. Many tutor school pupils or get involved in YUSU’s KEEN York project which offers free interactive sports sessions for children with special educational needs.
Whilst all of York’s student volunteers make a positive impact on the people they work with, there are some who stand out as having made an exceptional contribution.
To nominate your outstanding volunteer, please email: volunteering@york.ac.uk.
Some students share their volunteering experiences below:
Ellie Maxwell, third-year Psychology in Education undergraduate
Ellie applied through York Students in Communities to volunteer with Speak with IT, a local charity that helps people living with aphasia regain or improve their communication skills.
About the volunteering role:
The aim of Speak with IT is to provide long term one- to-one support in a person’s own home using specialist aphasia software to help people regain their confidence, overcome feelings of isolation and get back into the wider community. The charity provides training so that volunteers are able to support clients with computer software programmes that are available to assist speech recovery including the “Step-by-Step” and “React2” programmes. Volunteers support a minimum of two clients who we aim to develop bonds of friendship with and who we motivate and encourage until their speech has improved and they are feeling more confident.
What attracted you to a volunteering role with Speak with IT?
I wanted to get involved with Speak IT because I also thoroughly enjoy volunteering for Special Needs Activities and Play Provision for York. I have enhanced my understanding of the importance of communication and listening skills with individuals who have disabilities and how this helps them gain confidence and improve upon these skills. I can see the positive impact I am having on these young people’s lives by just being there for them to talk and play. Speak with IT enables me to have a positive impact not only on these young people, but also on the wider community; adults who have aphasia as well as their carers and family members.
What have been the highlights/surprises of your volunteering experience?
I’ve just applied to do a Masters in Speech and Language Therapy, so this was a fantastic way to get more experience. It was also really rewarding to have such a great impact on other people’s lives!
Top tips for people thinking about volunteering?
Having a positive impact on someone else's life and trying to make the world a better place will also be rewarding for you! Do something you love because you are more likely to fully engage and get more from it, but don’t be afraid to try something new - you don’t need any experience to volunteer.
Hannah Takats - MA Music Psychology
Hannah applied to be a volunteer with Friends of York Hospital through York Students in Communities. This term, she is running arts and crafts activities on a sick children’s ward.
About the volunteering role:
In my role as a volunteer, I will be working on the children's ward at York Hospital for a few hours once a week, doing arts and crafts with the patients. There are many roles available for volunteers at the hospital, but as I have a lot of experience working with children and my own arts and crafts business, I thought this would be the best one for me. If you enjoy your work, you’ll have a better impact on the people you are working with. I will be given free rein to colour, make things and be as creative as possible with the children. We are paired with another volunteer so it will be a joint effort.
What attracted you to a volunteering role with Friends of York Hospital?
I wanted to volunteer at the hospital because I am thinking of applying for graduate-entry medicine in the future. Even if I end up on a different career path, the experience of volunteering at the hospital will be invaluable because I would still like a job that involves supporting people. I struggle with my own mental health so I know how important it is to have a lot of support around you. I have also found arts and crafts to be a great distraction from whatever is going on in my life, and I think it's important that all patients get the chance to try getting creative. Sometimes they'll need a bit of encouragement to get involved, but it is definitely worth it when it improves their mood and time in hospital.
Top tips for people thinking about volunteering?
To anyone thinking of volunteering, I’d say give it a go! It's so rewarding to see what you can do to help others and volunteering gives you confidence in your ability to make a difference. Whoever you volunteer with, they are always grateful to have you and there's no pressure like in a job as long as you have a certain level of commitment. If it doesn't work out, you can try something else. Always do something you enjoy; that way you will look forward to going, be friendly and positive and get the most out of it that you can.
Ellen, second-year History and Philosophy undergraduate
Ellen volunteered to clear an outdoor space in Goodricke College with volunteering organisation Goodgym.
 720-576x432.jpg)
About the volunteering role:
I volunteered with Goodgym (a running club that combines getting fit with doing good deeds) when they ran their first session in partnership with the University. The aim of the session was to clear a large section of land near Goodricke college and replant some trees. We started with a warm up, then spent 45 minutes clearing and got the whole section done which was really satisfying! After that we did a 1km run followed by some sprints and HIIT exercises in the middle, it was a great work out.
What attracted you to go along to the Goodgym session and then continue to volunteer with them?
I am always looking out for ways to help the community and it's a great way to feel part of a new city. Goodgym were the perfect opportunity; helping the community and getting your workout done at the same time, and it only took a couple of hours! The trainer Egg and the other members were so friendly and made me feel so welcome. You can attend as often or as little as you want, it is one of the most flexible volunteering opportunities I have ever come across, which is the main issue I have found when volunteering as a student, with holidays and varying work commitments.
Any Surprises/ highlights?
The workout- you really can be any level of fitness and still feel comfortable. I have attended so many classes or group exercise activities and felt intimidated or like I have to be a certain level of fitness. I am currently training for a half marathon and it was a great way to train, but other members had never run before so did the HITT exercises only.
Any top tips for people thinking about volunteering?
Just go for it! As a student, you can probably be more flexible with your time than most other people if you manage it effectively. However busy you feel, you can always do something like Goodgym as a one off to feel you've done something good. Goodgym is a great way to give as much or little time as you can, but there are so many great things you can do if you start looking.
Alissia McNay – third year English undergraduate
Alissia is a volunteer in York Students in Schools’ Inspiring Minds programme. Collaborating with employers, she is delivering workshops to primary school children about marketing and retail.
About the volunteering role:
I worked with a team of students to introduce the world of marketing and retail to year six pupils in an exciting and accessible way. We developed and delivered three workshops to Clifton Green Primary School pupils, one of which took place at a local John Lewis store. In these workshops we explained marketing terminology, encouraged the pupils to practise these new terms in practical exercises and got them to work as a team to design marketing pitches.
What attracted you to a volunteering role with the Inspiring Minds programme?
I was attracted to this role because I am hoping to pursue a career in digital marketing after I graduate and I knew that this project would help me to demonstrate to future employers how enthusiastic I am. The opportunity to work with John Lewis in a professional capacity was also a large motivation for applying. More generally, I saw the potential in this project to help me hone many transferable skills such as teamwork, communicating with professional partners and time-management.
What have been the highlights/surprises of your volunteering experience?
Going behind the scenes at John Lewis and seeing the year-six class respond so well to the workshops was a special moment that I can take away from the project. Many pupils said they would like to apply for marketing or retail roles as work experience at secondary school. A personal highlight came at the end of the last workshop, when one pupil said his favourite part of the whole project was learning about hard-sell versus soft-sell advertising (this was the activity I had led in the first workshop).
Top tips for people thinking about volunteering?
Make sure you give your energy and dedication to the project you are working on. With volunteering projects you will only get out what you put in, and you can really see the immediate impacts of your hard work. There are so many positives of volunteering, including meeting new people, gaining confidence and learning more about the world around you. Don’t be afraid to try something new, either – you might end up discovering a passion you never knew you had.