Written by Rachel Measures, Masters in PR.

Once again Sheffield Hallam Students’ Union is celebrating Student Volunteering Week! Starting on the 11^th February there’s plenty of ways to get involved from one-offs, student project ‘Give it a Go’s’, celebration events and much more!

Why get involved?

1. Making friends

Volunteering, especially as a student, is a great place to find like-minded people, and new hobbies. Running my own volunteering projects also helped me to strengthen my current friendships by creating something we were passionate about.

2. Helping with employability

Since volunteering I have had tonnes more to say in interviews – volunteering provides loads of chances to develop skills and can show that you are engaged in a range of extra-curricular activities. Which, if you wanted, is a really good place to begin the Hallam Award too, which I completed in my second year.

3. Gaining confidence and improving mental health

With making new friends and developing new skills, confidence is inevitable. Volunteering encourages people to leave their comfort zone, help those around them and achieve various things that they never knew they could. Personally, I found the confidence to be a leader and became far more comfortable with public speaking through my volunteering as Social Secretary for the Volunteering Committee at SHSU.

To get involved join in on a bunch of cool volunteering events being hosted by the SHSU Volunteering team:

Join in on a range of one-off volunteering opportunities:

• Be an Afternoon Tea Part Host at Guildford Grange (11^th Feb 1 – 3pm)
• Serve breakfast with the Cathedral Archer Project to help the homeless (12^th Feb 8 – 10.30am)
• Help out at the RSPCA, cleaning, walking and training dogs! (13^th Feb 8.30am – 4pm)
• Join Guildford Grange for a Knit and a Natter (13^th Feb 1 – 3pm)
• Help BUCS National Event run smoothly (15^th – 17^th Feb 8.30am – 8pm)

Or… make your own project:

Have a great idea for a volunteering project and want to make it a reality? You totally can! In my first year I really wanted to start volunteering but had no idea how. Me and a friend came up with a really simple sporting one-off which we delivered to a local Sheffield youth group, and after that we created Make-A-Mag, which was a 6-week primary school project. All it took was to speak to a member of the volunteering team and from there everything was set in motion.

To find out more about the week and what events are happening head over to the Students’ Union website.