News
Wednesday 20 February 2008
Students set for best volunteer week yet
Charities and community groups across the city are to benefit from Nottingham Trent University’s biggest and best Student Volunteering Week yet. Students are gearing up to volunteer for an array of projects next week, including tree planting and woodland maintenance, painting and decorating, spring cleaning and animal walking and grooming.
The national event aims to raise awareness to student volunteering and celebrate the excellent work student volunteers do in their community. Projects have been organised by Nottingham Trent University’s student volunteering group, Junction, a joint initiative between the university and the students’ union.
On Monday February 25 green fingered students will plant 400 trees at Silver Hill Community Wood to create a shelter for wildlife and help improve natural diversity. On the same day they will be holding a bingo morning at a Nottingham residential care home, and organising a drive for donors for the Anthony Nolan Trust bone marrow register.
Volunteers will help with woodland maintenance at Bestwood Country Park on Tuesday February 26, as well as painting and decorating at St Andrew’s Church and Community Centre in Nottingham, and organising a games morning at Nottinghamshire Hospice.
On Wednesday February 27 students will be visiting the RSPCA shelter in Radcliffe where they will help walk, groom and feed the dogs and cats. There will be a second day of painting and decorating at St Andrew’s Church and Community Centre, and volunteers will benefit from first aid training at the university.
Students will team up with the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust on Thursday February 28, helping with outdoor activities in the Clifton area, such as tree pruning and spring cleaning. There will be more painting and decorating, this time at Headway – the brain association headquarters in Nottingham, and volunteers will take part in two sign language skills workshops at the university.
On Friday February 29, students have teamed up with Clarins to hold a beauty morning at Nottinghamshire Hospice, performing step-by-step makeovers for residents. Volunteers will also help to kick-start Nottingham City Council’s Big Spring Clean by working to clear the walkways along the canal which runs through the city.
Hannah Cantrell, Student Volunteer Co-ordinator, said: “This year is the biggest Student Volunteer Week that the Committee has organised so far, providing almost 180 volunteering opportunities throughout the week. The committee have really outdone themselves this year, organising such a wide variety of projects across Nottinghamshire. The success of the week really is down to the professionalism and hard work put in by this year’s student committee – they should be immensely proud of their achievements.”
Andy Coppins, Volunteering Projects Co-ordinator at the university, said: “It is great to see so many opportunities for students to get involved in volunteering during a single week with so many organisations across the county. It is a testament to the hard work of the student committee, who are organising all the projects, that there is such an array on offer. On behalf of the university and the many project beneficiaries, I would like to thank all of the student volunteers who take part in the week.”
ENDS
Notes for editors:
Student Volunteering Week was started in 2001 originally to coincide with International Year of Volunteers. It has now become an annual fixture in the student volunteering movement as well as the wider voluntary sector.
For more on Student Volunteering Week visit the student volunteering week pages at Volunteering England's website.
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