Community Partners

What is a Community Partner?

A Community Partner is a charity or organisation that has been connected to the University Volunteering Team. This connection starts by having a meeting a member of our team. If you would like to start a partnership with us, please visit our ‘Become a community partner‘ page . During the meeting we will need to get a copy of your Public Liability Insurance (PLI) certificate and a volunteer risk assessment, digital copies are preferred.

Become a Community Partner

How can Durham University Volunteering help your charity or organisation?

Durham University Volunteering works alongside over 2,000 staff and student volunteers every year. This allows us to advertise opportunities to a dedicate pool of enthusiastic volunteers who are keen to roll up their sleeves and get the task done. Whether you need 1 or two volunteers or groups of 50+ we can work with you to make sure your needs are met. We also host multiple events through out the year. By being a Community Partner, you will be invited to these events: for example Freshers Fair, Volunteer Fair, Greenspace Festival etc.

How do we advertise volunteering opportunities suggested by Community Partners?

All tasks are uploaded onto our Volunteer Portal. This enables us to closely monitor uptake. Once a date is set for the volunteering, we will then canvas the groups/ departments. All volunteering opportunities for individuals will be uploaded to the Portal as well. We also have a newsletter that is sent out to staff and students.

Below are just a few of our many amazing community partners.

Community Partner Example

Durham Foodbank (The Trussell Trust)

We currently run monthly volunteering sessions with Durham Foodbank (based in Chester-Le-Street). These sessions allow staff members from across the university to take part in tasks such as sorting donations, putting together food parcels and helping Foodbank keep up to date with paperwork.

Over 250 staff members have volunteered with Durham Foodbank since 2021 (stat published on 1/2/24) and over 1000 hours have been contributed to volunteering in their warehouse.

Throughout November 2024, staff, students and community groups contributed food donations, to the annual Festive Food Drive, with the total collection weighing in at 1,233.07kg. To put this achievement into context, this is the approximate weight of a Mini Cooper car! The donations were distributed evenly to local charities, one being Foodbank.