Thank you to EGO Magazine for featuring the following article in their July edition which can be read here: ego.today/current/
One of our promises to students here at AberSU is to help them prepare for their next adventure. In an increasingly competitive graduate job market, we know they’ll only stand out from the crowd if they have already started developing their skills and experience.
Over the last two years we have been developing an online volunteering hub that connects students with new opportunities, allowing them to log their hours and keep track of their skills development. We recognise their hard work with the ‘Aber Award’, which is given to students who contribute the most hours each year:
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Bronze
30+ hours
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Silver
60+ hours and 4 skills
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Gold
120+ hours and 8 skills
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Across the 164 students that registered, over 13,000 volunteering hours have been recorded since September 2018!
A lot of these hours are spent volunteering on campus as students develop their skills through committees, representative roles and helping with events such as Freshers’ Week.
We were especially proud to see over 3,000 hours recorded for volunteering projects based in and around local community including; Scouts and Guides, Youth Justice Service, St John Ambulance and Dyfed-Powys Police.
We have also worked with several organisations to create Action Days – a chance to contribute some time back to the community without the ongoing commitment. Students have helped keep our beaches clean, provided marine conservation support, combatted mental health issues through community gardening and supported the local Parkrun. Our most popular action day of the year was running an Elderly Tea Party!
Pippa Jones, 3rd year history student and regular participant in Action Days said:
“Volunteering has taught me to be more patient with people, communicate better, and has helped me to develop leadership qualities I really don't think I would have without volunteering. It's also always a good feeling knowing you're doing something to help somebody else, even if it's just something small!”
If you’re a local organisation looking for volunteers or you’d like to work in partnership with the Student’s Union to organise an Action Day, get in touch with Amy through our website (abersu.co.uk/volunteering) or email (alg51@aber.ac.uk).