Did you volunteer as a student? We would love to hear about your experience  

Over 800 University of Brighton students take part in community volunteering every year, many through degree-based community engagement projects and placements as part of the curriculum. These activities take place with a diverse range of organisations, from health and social care to arts and heritage, teaching or sports, and can provide students with invaluable experiences and can influence their career plans. We want to find out more about the experiences of alumni who have undertaken a placement or community project, however long ago it was.  What was the experience like? Has it impacted on your volunteering activity? Did you find it influenced your career decisions? 

As part of our research at the University of Brighton’s Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) , we will be running an online focus group in February and are looking for alumni who potentially would like to take part. This will be an informal discussion lasting around 1.5 hours and, as a thank you for your time, there will be a small gift of a £30 voucher.  The focus group will help inform the co-production of a new University of Brighton strategic plan for public and community engagement. All information gathered at the focus group will be used anonymously when the research is reported.    

If you are interested to find out more, we will send you an information sheet and a consent form to consider. If there is a lot of interest in the focus group, the research team will let you know if the spaces have been filled. However, there may be other similar opportunities relating to your experience of community placements and projects and, if so, the team can let you know about them in the future for you to consider.  

If you would like further information or are interested in potentially taking part in the focus group and in other related projects in the future, please contact Nicolette below. 

Dr Nicolette Fox
Community University Partnership Programme
Research and Knowledge Exchange
University of Brighton

Email: n.c.fox@brighton.a.uk