Student News and Events

News and events for University of Brighton students

Why volunteer?

Lots of our students already volunteer across Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings. As Student Volunteering Week 2015 comes to a close, these students wanted to share their volunteering experience with us.

Lucie, who studies Biology at the Hastings campus and volunteers with the CaSH (Contraception and Sexual Health) team to increase sexual health awareness and provide advice.  

LUCIE1“During the Fresher’s Fair I noticed a stand looking for CaSH volunteers where we would be providing students with free condoms and chlamydia testing, as well as signposting to local services. I decided to join up, thinking it a good way to meet people around the uni.

The training was great but sadly the support wasn’t there at that time. I thoroughly enjoyed providing the service to other students; I worked with some great people and hoped we could get it back up and running again. After some hard work behind the scenes from Brighton Students’ Union and the CaSH Action Team volunteers, our funding bid to East Sussex County Council was successful and we’re really lucky that they can fund the Eastbourne and Hastings section of CaSH.  So now in my second year, I am once again a CaSH volunteer which is great.

After more training we are up and running again and offer free condoms, chlamydia testing and pregnancy tests to students every Monday. Although it has been tough finding the time to support the role, I still feel it has been worth doing. The training provided was great fun. Trying to role-play giving advice to a ‘teenager’ and keep a straight face whilst talking about lube or femidoms can be tricky but, gives you the knowledge you need to talk about it in a real life setting.

Volunteering through the uni has given me some great skills to add to my CV.  I am confident at speaking to people I don’t know about issues that some people find embarrassing; after all, not many people get to put condoms on a fake penis to ensure others are safe. As a volunteer you get to feel like you really belong and are not just a face in the crowd. Whatever role you undertake, you can be sure of great training and the chance to work with a variety of great people.

There are people who don’t understand why you would give your time for free; my answer is, why not? As with anything in life, you get out what you put in. I have chosen to get as much out of my time here as I can. If it hadn’t been for the confidence I gained as a volunteer I would not have run in the Student Union elections and found myself elected to go to the NUS conference in April. I would have missed out on great training, new and improved skills and especially the fantastic friends I have made along the way.”

Guy is a first year studying Business Management and Marketing. He volunteers as the Varley Park Halls Representative.

“Firstly, I would like to say that if you are considering volunteering whilst you’re here, either for the uni or in the community, go for it! Normally I would never put myself forward for anything like this but it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

guy1During my time as halls rep I have organised and petitioned to improve the experience of living in halls for both existing and future students. There was an issue with the Internet connection so I gave the students’ feedback to staff. Since then, the students’ personal and learning experiences have improved. I also helped the SU to work with the local bus service to introduce the new £3 ticket for students, as lots of us at Varley had to pay around twice as much previously!

I also organised a Fifa tournament for students with cash prizes and even secured a free pair of tickets for the winner for Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club. All three of these were huge surprises and triumphs for me and the students involved.

When I am not sorting out petitions for improvements or organising events you will see me taking a very pro-active approach on the Varley Park Facebook pages; promoting events, progress reports on what I have been working on, responding to students questions, concerns, feedback, advising and pointing them to the right sources of information.

This role is highly rewarding knowing that you are making a positive impact on current and future students’ university experience. This is exactly why I put myself forward for the role. I enjoy the responsibility, meeting people, working with the SU and seeing the positive impact of my work.”

I have gained new experiences, learnt new skills, improved my time management and surprised myself with my capabilities. It has also been a fantastic opportunity to meet and engage with both students and staff; that I otherwise would not have.”

Does volunteering sound like something you might like to get involved with? Click here to find out more about Active Student and events that are happening for Student Volunteering Week 2015.

Ed Bending • 26 February 2015


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