Kent Union The Students’ Union for the University of Kent Steph Hughes and Suzanne Payne Volunteering Projects Coordinator & Graduate Employability Coordinator

What is volunteering? “…an activity that involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit the environment, individuals or groups other than close relatives”.

What counts as Volunteering? Types of volunteering: Community volunteering Committee member Course rep Welcome Week Helper Student Led Volunteering Groups Student Ambassador

KSCV Kent Student Certificate for Volunteering

Finding a placement in the Community? Use the ‘browse placements’ On this site you can view the various placements that are available, from sports, raise and give, media, working with local charities and many more Or use a search engine such as Google or

How to your log hours 1. Log into 2. Click on my profile 3. Click on my volunteering log 4. Add the date, activity and time volunteered – click add

KSCV Bronze 25 hours of volunteering

KSCV Silver 50 hours of volunteering 15 minute review with a member of staff

KSCV Gold 100 volunteering hours Review 2 training sessions 750 words

KSCV Platinum Credit bearing module (depending on your course) Complete 4 volunteering modules across a year Community Volunteering (Compulsory) Project Leadership (Compulsory) University Volunteering Committee Role Training and Facilitation Mentoring

KSCV awards

Helping others There are 1700 volunteers registered and over 54,000 volunteering hours have been logged since June. ‘Students are highly valued as volunteers by organisations and are sought out for specific skills, knowledge and expertise’ (Bursting the Bubble, 2010) Natalie – Leisure Development Co-ordinator SNAAP ‘Without volunteers many of our events would not be able to run as we would not be able to provide the support and care that individual children need’

What’s in it for you? Make new friends Improve your confidence Gain new skills Road test careers Improve your job prospects and employability

Employability  As a result of feedback via student consultation and involvement it became evident that a method of collating experience and the skills gained would be invaluable in helping students to reflect on and record their activities and relate them to employability.  Kent Union are currently piloting an ‘Employability Toolkit’ - The toolkit is an ideal method of reflecting on any employment, volunteering and training undertaken and the skills that have been utilised.

Key Employability Categories  Communication  Team working  Planning/organisation  Leadership  Enterprise  Problem solving  Reflection  I.T skills  Positive attributes

Key Features  Paid and voluntary work  Kent Union and Non-Kent Union  Courses attended  Gaps in skills  Opportunities to develop your skills  Produces skills record

Stand Out training  One-off training sessions  Last between 1 and 2 hours  Delivered by Kent Union staff and in the future by students with particular areas of expertise  Linked to key skills identified in employability toolkit  Programme to be increased dramatically for the next academic year

Topics to be included in next year’s programme  First aid  Chairing meetings  Managing risks  Food Hygiene (online)  Health and safety  Leadership  Child protection  Using social media to prepare for graduate employment  Equality and Diversity

Over the summer the toolkit will be merged with the existing volunteering database to create one system. Using this system students will also be able to -  - Identify a range of volunteering opportunities  - Log their volunteering hours  - Complete their KSCV review and submit a written reflection  - Book themselves on stand out training  - Record and evaluate any training they have attended  - Be contacted quickly and efficiently  The finalised toolkit will be launched in September

For further information QUESTIONS?