Work with us to take action, make a difference and spark change
NTU are committed to developing and enriching our relationships with local organisations and better understanding your areas of need. By doing this we believe we can work better together to address challenges that affect people, places and communities.
The dedicated Community Engagement and Volunteering team facilitate, motivate and empower NTU students and staff to take action, make a difference and spark change.
What we do
On behalf of our community partners, we actively promote a diverse range of rewarding, flexible volunteering opportunities available locally to NTU campuses, or remotely. Through engaging year round events, storytelling, and in-person or virtual activities with partners we help students and staff consider and plan their impactful volunteering journey.
Partner charitable and not-for-profit organisations are invited to add suitable roles to our volunteer portal. These can include opportunities lasting from one day to more than a year, indoors or out. Roles vary from support and mentoring, gardening, sport, fundraising and events, marketing, governance or the core functions of your service.
We facilitate opportunities to engage with students who, as part of their course, collaborate with you on short term projects to address real-life challenges.
Community Engaged Learning projects can directly meet the identified needs of organisations, building their capacity, and furthering their mission and goals which results in the creation of positive social impact. Students apply their theoretical knowledge to practice, develop transferable skills and become more life-ready. Academics can extend their classroom in the community and have more opportunity for creativity in their teaching.
Visit our dedicated hub for Community Engaged Learning to find out more.
We are also interested in broadening your engagement with the University and can help you access subject-related projects, placements, research, networks and training your organisation would like to participate in.
Please get in touch on volunteering@ntu.ac.uk to discuss working together.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is possible to recruit volunteers all year round, however it is important to be mindful of the academic calendar when planning to recruit students. We hold an annual Volunteer Fair in October.
We engage with a wide range of not-for-profit stakeholders such as charities, community and voluntary sector groups, civic organisations, community interest companies, and public sector bodies that are based, or deliver provision, local to our campuses in Nottingham City, Clifton, Brackenhurst (Southwell), Mansfield, and London.
Partners must have the appropriate resources and infrastructure to support student volunteers, and opportunities offered must not be at all exploitative or promote specific religious or political activity.
Each organisation is asked to complete a partner agreement, which highlights the respective responsibilities within the partnership. Emphasis is placed on protecting the volunteers and providing strong communication to help us monitor and improve the service we provide, including sharing student data which is requested at the end of the term.
You will receive year-round communication from a member of the Community Engagement and Volunteering team, who will help to identify and implement mutually beneficial opportunities and collaboration.
All undergraduate students at NTU receive a HEAR report that both details a student’s academic record and any extracurricular activities completed. This online report is an important resource for students as they apply for jobs. Our team are verifiers for any community volunteering completed by students and as such we may ask our partners to verify a student’s commitment.
In addition, an annual awards and celebration event also provides the opportunity to recognise the achievements of students, while providing special awards for students nominated by their respective community organisation.
We offer one to one meetings to students to help them consider their motivations and set goals for a successful volunteering journey. They are encouraged to reflect on the role of a volunteer in supporting the local community, and consider the commitment required of a voluntary role. Additionally, we advise them to prepare for their volunteer application if they have not done so already, including arranging referees and getting documents together for DBS checks if needed. We cannot provide references for students or conduct DBS checks ourselves.
At NTU we have an opportunity portal available to staff, students and new graduates called MyEmployability. All community partners receive access to MyEmployability allowing you to self-manage your volunteering opportunities which are then added to a dedicated Volunteering website.
Our team then have a number of ways of sharing opportunities online or in-person, such as through our Staff and Student Volunteer Networks, internal communication channels, pop-up stands, and contact with other teams and academics across the University.
Get in touch
Contact our Community Engagement and Volunteering Team