Three hundred people gathered in Staffordshire from 6th to 8th March for Volunteering England's National Student Volunteering Conference
The National Student Volunteering Conference provided an excellent opportunity for student volunteers, volunteer co-ordinators and staff who co-ordinate student volunteering from around 60 different universities and colleges across the country to get together to exchange best practice, project ideas and to network.
More than 40 training and development sessions were on offer across the three days, looking at taking forward the skills of student volunteers and staff co-ordinating volunteers.
The conference was organised in collaboration with Workers in Student Community Volunteering (WiSCV), with corporate sponsorship from Accenture.
Specialist trainers from across the sector and a team of in-house volunteering experts from Volunteering England delivered a range of innovative, specialist training in student volunteering.
Key speakers open conference
Justin Davis Smith, Chief Executive of Volunteering England, Andrea Rannard, Senior Student Volunteering Manager at Volunteering England and Sarah Jones, WiSCV Chair and Volunteer Co-ordinator at The University of Liverpool, all welcomed delegates on the first day of conference and spoke about the key role of students in volunteering.
Dr Peter Hawkins, world expert on career and life management and author of The Art of Building Windmills, provided an energetic and fun session which involved a lot of running about and balloons during the opening session on work-life balance.
Student volunteering showcase
Four inspirational student projects were chosen to showcase during the afternoon on the first day.
Karen Turvey, a second year student at University College Plymouth, St Mark and St John, talked about her Sac It In project, in which more than 250 people have swapped their plastic bags for linen ones. Karen was presented with the Matt Spencer award for her volunteering efforts, which involve juggling seven different roles.
Bars in the Eyes is a pro-bono project started by Alex Simmonds. This gives law students the opportunity to experience giving practical legal advice in a prison environment. Alex and Rebecca Wardle (pictured at the top of this article) both spoke about their experiences and involvement in the project.
Naomi Mitchell, a third year medical student at Leeds University, told delegates about the Leeds HeartStart project , giving basic life support training in schools across West Yorkshire.
The fourth project was an X-Factor type of event staged by students from Liverpool University, giving young people the opportunity to showcase their talent.
Funding plenary
Students and workers packed into the Yarnfield conference centre's Howden room to hear the views of a panel of experts on funding for volunteering in both higher and further education.
Keynote speakers included Andrea Rannard, Senior Student Volunteering Manager at Volunteering England, Sarah Jones, WiSCV Chair and Volunteer Co-ordinator at The University of Liverpool.
Dr Caroline Stainton, Director of Learning and Teaching at The University of Northampton and Professor Peter Jones, Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor at Nottingham Trent University spoke about the perspective from the top and some of the challenges facing colleges and universities during the current economic downturn.
Sophie Duncan, Deputy Director of The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement, talked about the role of NCCPE and provided a very positive perspective on student volunteering and funding.
Training workshops
This year 40 training workshops were open to all delegates and split into beginners, intermediate and advanced categories.
Topics were diverse, ranging from volunteers and the law, Olympic volunteering, setting up a creative project, drama methods in outreach and volunteering, creating volunteering links between universities and student unions, using new media in volunteering, how to set up sport volunteering, volunteering in health and social care, retaining volunteers, recognising volunteers, through to is social enterprise just a buzz word, engaging disabled people in their community, employability, secrets of successful fundraising and the importance of being earnest in building and maintaining relationships with external organisations.
Fairytale gala evening
The Saturday night Gala dinner had the theme of "fairytales", with students and workers alike showing their competitive spirit, with Disney characters out in force from Shrek, Peter Pan, Snow White, and other favourites, while others opted for "fairy-tales" - well done to The University of Northampton who were wearing black wings and black tails!
Volunteering England staff chose the theme of Red Riding Hood and Harry Potter, with a big thank you to our wonderful Chair Mike Nussbaum who joined in the party spirit by donning a red cape and to his devoted guide dog Esther, who was the big bad wolf complete with bonnet and cape (with big brown eyes like that Esther you can be nothing but good and sweet!).
Laugh yourself happy!
Stephanie Davies, Director and Founder of Laughology, had complete strangers talking to each other and chuckling as delegates examined what makes us laugh and the science behind humour, which was given a warm welcome by tired students and workers alike as they were about to head home from this inspirational event.
