Student Volunteering Week Success
Student Volunteering Week Success
Monday 12th February 2024 marked the beginning of the national Student Volunteering Week. Students all around the country are encouraged to participate in volunteering opportunities within their local community.
DUSVO (Durham University Student Volunteering and Outreach) promoted a calendar with 30+ opportunities for students to get involved in, whether they were a regular volunteer, or someone just interested in giving back to the community and trying new things.
Sessions varied from litter picking at Crook Hall Gardens or with Wear Rivers Trust, gardening at Old Durham Gardens and St Margarets Church to supporting the Durham Park Run, primary school Valentine’s disco, or donating in the Once a Month sanitary product drive.
Alice from the National Trust said, “we had a very successful volunteering week last week with 8 volunteers coming along to the litter picks”, those volunteers then went on to express their interest in making this opportunity a regular monthly event to further support the work of the National Trust in the Durham area.
Over the course of the week, over 92 volunteers committed to over 270 hours of volunteering. Georgia Donohue, Volunteering Team Leader commented “this has been one of the most successful student volunteering weeks we have seen in recent years. The engagement from student volunteers, including those that helped find opportunities and pull the timetable together, really highlights the commitment and dedication to volunteering from Durham students”.
Student involvement in these events and regular volunteering opportunities have a positive impact the community, but also have great benefit to our partners and the charities we work with. Not forgetting the impact volunteering has on you – our volunteers.
Lilly Whipp claimed “Volunteering has allowed me to fully immerse myself in the University experience and local community… I’ve also met some great people through these opportunities, and I always know that whatever I do next it will make me feel great, allow me to meet like-minded people and give me another experience to look back on in years to come.” Read more about Lilly’s volunteering experience here.
Don’t wait for Student Volunteering Week 2025, search our year-long volunteering opportunities here and get involved now!