News
Monday 5 June 2006
Reward for student volunteers
Two Nottingham Trent University students have been invited to a dinner reception at the House of Lords in recognition of their excellent volunteering work. John Buckley and Michelle Chambers will attend as winners of the prestigious Student Volunteering England Gold Awards.
These awards are presented to a select number of students each year, who show outstanding leadership, remarkable dedication or unparalleled achievement in their volunteering. They are the only awards available to highlight and reward students from every university and college in England, and where recipients are nominated and chosen by their peers.
Nottingham Trent University had four Gold Award winners in total of which John and Michelle were specially selected by Student Volunteering England to attend the House of Lords event – which aims to promote student volunteering – on 5 June. They will join just three other Gold Award winners from UK universities, along with representatives from Student Volunteering England.
John, a final-year history student, will be one of the guest speakers at the event. He won a Gold Award for his work with the St Saviour’s Youth Club in the Meadows, Nottingham. On a weekly basis for three years, he helped organise and plan a range of activities for youngsters aged 11-14, such as weeks’ away and ten-pin bowling.
He also visited Uganda last summer after collecting 350 football shirts to give to orphans in Kampala. He is returning this summer with a group of ten people to help build a home for eight orphans and a mother involved in the Watoto Children’s Choir. John arranged for the choir to visit Nottingham as part of its UK tour last year and organised accommodation for its members.
He said: “I was very surprised to have been nominated for a Gold Award, but to go on to win and then be chosen for this special event is just fantastic.”
Final-year psychology student, Michelle, won a Gold Award after volunteering at The Big Book Share Project at HM Prison Nottingham. The scheme enables fathers, grandfathers, uncles and godfathers to contribute to children’s reading development while in prison.
Michelle’s role involved helping prisoners choose books to send home to their children, tape stories and meet prisoners’ families during special ‘play’ sessions.
Michelle said: “It’s a real honour and surprise to be selected for this, I really enjoy my role as a volunteer and feel privileged to be involved.”
The University’s two other Gold Award winners were Catherine Bainbridge, who worked with a charity which targets young people to divert them away from crime, offer an alternative education curriculum and promote social inclusion; and Sybilla Daley, who was responsible for organising one-day volunteering projects for university students.
Nottingham Trent University’s Volunteering Project Coordinator, Andy Coppins, said: “All four are deserving winners of the Student Volunteering England Gold Award – their dedication to volunteering and the achievements they have all made are testament to this. For John and Michelle to also be invited to the House of Lords to represent student volunteering is a real privilege for them.”
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8782 or via email: dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk.
Or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8774 or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk.
