About

Welcome to Durham University Student Volunteering and Outreach (DUSVO), the home of student volunteering at Durham University!

We are proud to be a student-led, community-focused organisation. Established in 1989, we aim to support the local community, and offer a unique volunteering experience to all Durham students. It’s easy to get involved, whether participating in a project as a volunteer, taking on more responsibility as a Project Leader or standing for election to the Exec. We have over 50 projects to chose from as well as range of one off opportunities and fundraising events. Our projects have developed based upon the need and requests of the community and the passions and interests of our students.

Overseen by a student executive committee working alongside permanent staff and based in the Palatine Centre, DUSVO has long been at the centre of the Durham student experience.

If you are a Durham University Student and would like to find out more about volunteering then please visit our Sharepoint site.

Durham Volunteering Sharepoint

Our annual Durham University Volunteering Awards ceremony recognises and celebrates the commitment made by Durham University volunteers to the local community and students are also recognised for their volunteering effort with the DUSVO Volunteering certificates.

We have one of the most active student volunteering communities of any UK university – and now that has been recognised by Queen Elizabeth II. We were honoured to receive The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2020; the highest award given for community volunteering in the UK.

We are also recognised by Investing in Volunteers (IiV) – the UK quality standard for good practice in volunteer management.

Volunteering is a recognised contribution towards achieving the Durham Inspired Award and our volunteers also have the opportunity to enter into the Leadership programme.

Starting from Michaelmas term 2020, we are introducing the new Durham University Student Volunteers Certification Scheme to recognise the invaluable contribution our students make to the local community through volunteering. The certification scheme recognises 3 different levels of volunteering, based on the total number of accumulated hours a student has volunteered during their time at Durham University: Bronze, Silver and Gold.

You can look at all the projects that we have to offer and send us an email if you have any queries.