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Volunteering News

++ STUDENT LED PROJECTS ++
BECOME A STUDENT SUPERSTAR …
UCL Union’s Innovations Programme is now recruiting for project leaders for next academic year.

If you’d like to run a volunteer project that benefits the local community – and to develop your project management and leadership skills whilst you’re at it – then this is your chance to get involved. We’re looking both for leaders for existing activities and for students with bright ideas for new community action projects. Full support is provided by the Voluntary Services Unit.

To get involved, you’ll need to attend a training session – we’re running one on FRIDAY 8TH JUNE 9.30 AM – 4.30PM. If you can’t make this training, do get in touch, as we will also be running sessions in September.

To find out more, visit our website at http://www.uclunion.org/volunteers/innovations-programme.php , email us at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk, or drop into our offices on the second floor of the UCL Bloomsbury.


++ MARKETING ++
TLC CARE SERVICES – TWO NEW VOLUNTEER VACANCIES
We need a volunteer to help us find six runners to represent TLC Care Services in the British 10K London Run. If you are a sporty person who knows other sporty people and can spare a little time to help us out, get in touch via j.braime@ucl.ac.uk

We also need someone who is interested in helping us market our dementia training department. We need someone to research existing care providers in the London area. We then need to generate a list of potential users and devise a leaflet to go out all over London.

In both roles, you’ll be helping raise money for an organisation that provides person-centred care in the community allowing people to stay in their own homes on their own terms. An organisation that gives carers relief in order that they can get time off from the 24 hours a day they spend caring for a loved one. An organisation that works for a better understanding of dementia and trains professionals in how to deliver the best services. An organisation that works with stroke survivors and works to prevent future incidents.


++ INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ++
METHODIST RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
MRDF works with locally-based organisations in over 20 countries to encourage communities to work their way out of poverty and build sustainable livelihoods, and to respond to emergency situations with humanitarian aid. We’re looking for a Supporter Relations Assistant to help us communicate with MRDF’s supporting individuals and churches in the UK. The role involves sending out mailings and resources, updating databases, and undertaking research for fundraising, education or capacity building material.

You’ll need good written and spoken English ,good IT skills, an interest in or experience of international development work, and be comfortable working for a church-based organisation.

For more info, email John at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk


++ ONE OFF: STEWARDING ++
RACE FOR LIFE
Race for Life is a series of 5km runs/walks in aid of Cancer Research UK. This summer we anticipate 800,000 women taking part in race for life across London. With such large numbers we rely enormously on the support of volunteers who can help with marshalling, administration or general event set up. Most events have between 2,000 – 10,000 participants and are usually on a Sunday morning.
Race Dates:
Venue name Date / Time
Richmond (Sat) - 19 May 07 (14:00)
Richmond (Sun) - 20 May 07 (11:00)
Richmond (Sun) - 20 May 07 (14:00)
City of London (Sun) - 03 Jun 07 (10:00)
Hampstead (Sun) - 10 Jun 07 (11:00)
Regents Park (Sat) - 21 Jul 07 (11:00)
Regents Park (Sun) - 22 Jul 07 (11:00)
Blackheath (Sun) - 15 Jul 07 (10:30)
Ealing & Hounslow - (Sun) 29 Jul 07 (11:00)
For more info, email Dee at d.davis@ucl.ac.uk


++ CHARITY SHOPS ++
OXFAM BOOKS - BLOOMSBURY STREET
Opportunities to gain invaluable work experience and make a difference to some of the World’s poorest people!

Join our volunteers’ team and gain handy skills for your CV, such as marketing or sales strategy. You’ll get plenty of training and support and encouragement to start you own initiatives, from poetry readings to fundraising walks - your time is what you make of it! You can arrange the hours and days that suit you. You'll also meet a great bunch of people! To find out more, email John at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk

Also – if you don’t fancy lugging your unwanted books all the way home at the end of the year, why not donate them to us and help us raise money for Oxfam’s work? Our shop is on Bloomsbury Street – at the Oxford Street end of Gower Street.


++ CHILDREN ++
SUMMER READING SCHEME
Westminster Libraries run a Summer Reading scheme for children during the Summer Holidays from mid July to the beginning of September. The theme this year is the "Big Wild Read" so it is using the environment and nature as a theme.

Hundreds of children join the scheme every year, and it is invaluable as a tool to keep the children reading and busy over the summer. There are lots of related events being planned, with visits from outside organisations. There are stickers and certificates and medals to be won for the children, so it is sure to be very popular.

We are looking for bright, enthusiastic volunteers who enjoy working with, and talking to children to help us out for a few hours each week at a variety of sites within Westminster.

Interested? Email John at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk


++ ONE OFF EVENTS ++
GO LONDON
GO offers easy, commitment-free volunteering to suit anyone in London. The activities we organise are always on Saturdays or Sundays, last 4 or 5 hours and you don't need any prior skills or experience. Just sign up for the events that interest you.

Events vary in terms of what you do, where you do it and who you benefit with your time, so something in our calendar is sure to appeal to you. Each event has 15-20 people attending with no previous skills or knowledge required - there's something for everyone to do. Here are some of our forthcoming events:

Sunday 20th May: Belmont Primary School, Chiswick W4 (painting of playground structures, picnic tables etc and work in the wildlife garden)
Saturday 26th May: Sellincourt Primary School, Tooting SW17 (last stages of painting and gardening before centenary celebrations)
Saturday 9th June: Sellincourt Primary School, Tooting SW17 (we’ve managed to squeeze one more GO event before the centenary celebrations in the following week)
Saturday 16th June: Kensal Green Cemetery W10 (removal of Sycamore saplings before they damage the monuments)
Saturday 16th June: Chiswick Community School W4 (repainting of humanities corridor)
Sunday 24th June: 3 Rivers Clean Up with Lea Rivers Trust (tidying up stretches of river while travelling by boat! Plus tidying up along the bank, Bromley-by-Bow E3, 10am-4pm)

To get involved, email John at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk


++ FUNDRAISING ++
VOLUNTEER FUNDRAISING CO-ORDINATOR CCHF LONDON OFFICE
The Children’s Country Holiday Fund currently require the services of a part-time fundraising volunteer to work in our London Office, co-ordinating our new Jump for Joy Parachuting Programme and our College and University Networking Project.

This position will provide valuable experience for those people interested in pursuing a career in PR, Marketing or Event Management. A Criminal Records Bureau check will be required in keeping with current Child Protection legislation.

For more information, email Rosie at r.oglesby@ucl.ac.uk


++ ONE OFF: FESTIVAL ++
HELP OUT AT THE FITZROVIA FESTIVAL 15 JUNE
The Fitzrovia Festival is taking place this year on Friday 15th June in Fitzroy Square (5 mins walk from Warren Street tube). We need general volunteers to help out with the followings:
Setting up the venues
Clearing up
Assisting the audience
Checking that everything its in order
General help around the venues

If you can help, email John at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk


++ CHILDREN / ENGLISH LANGUAGE SUPPORT ++
KCB CHADSWELL CENTRE
We are looking for volunteers to help support students on the Community ESOL class. You will be helping students from black and ethnic minority communities with literacy skills in Entry Level 1 and 2 on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings. We’re based on Harrison Street, just around the corner from UCL. For more info, email John at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk


++ ONE OFF: FUNDRAISING ++
SUMMER VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES WITH LONDON’S AIR AMBULANCE
London’s Air Ambulance have some more collection days in the diary – if you can help out, let us know.

We provides crucial pre-hospital care to victims of major trauma throughout London. The Helicopter and Rapid Response cars carry highly trained specialist trauma doctors who are able to begin life saving medical treatment at the scene of an accident. Nevertheless LAA is charitably funded and we must raise £750,000 per year through charitable funding, a proportion of which is raised by holding weekly charity collection across London.

Friday July 6th and Saturday July 7th – Sites across London
Saturday August 4th- Twickenham Rugby Stadium- England vs Wales
Tuesday 7th-Saturday 11th August - Earls’ Court Beer Festival

To find out more, email John at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk


++ ONE OFF: CARNIVAL DE CUBA ++
HAVE A GREAT DAY OUT AND SUPPORT A FANTASTIC CHARITY – 16TH & 17TH JUNE.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is a small charity dedicated to investigating and exposing crimes against wildlife and the environment. EIA campaigns to protect endangered species, the world’s last rainforest and the ozone layer. This summer we will have a stall at Carnival de Cuba in Southwark Park, London on 16th & 17th June. We’re looking for a team of enthusiastic volunteers to show off their face painting skills and generally help out as part of our activities at the event. It should be a great day out with a fantastic line up of Cuban singers and dancers. We’ll need volunteers form 11.30-6pm on both the Saturday and Sunday; don’t worry if you can only do one day though.
To find out more contact Rosie Oglesby (r.oglesby@ucl.ac.uk)


++ ONE OFF: FUNDRAISING ++
BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION – COLLECTORS NEEDED
The British Heart Foundation are having their Annual Appeal from the 2nd to the 9th of June. We are looking for as many collectors as possible who fall into two distinct groups.

The first go from house to house in an area of their choosing to leave envelopes and then return at an agreed date during the week to collect them and remit any donations to us.

The other is to collect using our tins at a single spot again chosen by themselves.

All permissions and identity badges would be provided along with tins,envelopes etc.

If you can help us raise money to help fight heart disease, email John at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk


++ THE ENVIRONMENT / SOCIAL ENTERPRISE ++
THE CALTHORPE PROJECT FRUIT AND VEGETABLE STALL.
The Calthorpe Project is an environmental project based on Greys Inn Road, Kings Cross. We run an organic fruit and vegetable stall every Friday from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. The produce is supplied by East Anglian farmers’ co-operative Eostre Organics, and a proportion of the money raised goes to the Calthorpe Project to help fund the charity’s activities. We aim to encourage shopping locally, help to promote healthy eating and raise awareness in the community of environmental issues while providing more affordable organic produce.

We would welcome any support you can offer, from buying our produce (come along and pay us a visit!) to helping out with marketing and running the stall. We are short on staff so would be very grateful to anyone who can help out with leafleting or other forms of marketing. If you have the expertise and access to materials, making posters and signs would be a great help, as would write ups in student papers, taking leaflets to halls of residence, or just dressing up as a tomato and handing out leaflets at Kings Cross!

For more information, email John at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk


++ VACANCIES WITHIN UCL ++
HELP RECRUIT VOLUNTEERING IN YOUR DEPARTMENT
Would you like to become a VSU Department Rep? Tasks include anything from organising displays of information about volunteering, to doing ‘lecture shouts’ – a short talk about volunteering given at the start of lectures – or helping to organise one-off volunteering events for your fellow students. Get in touch if you would like to be one of the reps for 07/08. Full presentation skills training will be provided which will take place in late September. Contact Dee at d.davis@ucl.ac.uk


++ VACANCIES WITHIN UCL ++
DO YOU LIKE MEETING OTHER STUDENTS?
The Voluntary Services Unit is looking for volunteers to find placements for other students next academic year. The work involves interviewing students, finding out about what sort of voluntary work might be suitable, and then finding placements using our Access database. If you like chatting to people, are a good listener and are available for half a day per week from the start of October 2007, then why not get in touch? Full induction and training will be provided. For more information, email j.braime@ucl.ac.uk . Note that this opportunity is only open to people who will be students at UCL next academic year.


++ CHILDREN / YOUNG PEOPLE ++
TOYNBEE HALL TRACE PROJECT
Toynbee Hall produces practical innovative programmes for young people and families, adults, and older people, to meet the needs of local people, improve conditions and enable communities to fulfil their potential. TRACE is a new project focusing on the theme of ‘What it means to be British & Young, today and in the past’. By engaging young people to think about this theme, talk to their peers and through engagement with older people we are hoping to have something relevant to offer to the current debate.

We are now looking for a volunteer documentary film crew, who will be producing a documentary following the process of the project. The short film produced will be shown at the March 2008 showcase at the British Museum, and will be distributed widely as a means of communicating the findings of the project. The documentary will potentially have an important message to deliver whilst telling the story of Trace.

The film makers would be a key part of the project team working closely with the young people, their teachers and the Project Historian. This would be a great opportunity for film makers, who want to build their portfolio and show reel. We’re looking for Director/Camera Operator, Sound Recorder, Editors, and DVD Designer.

To find out more, email John at j.braime@ucl.ac.uk


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