Why volunteer?
Everyone benefits from volunteering. Local communities and organisations value the time, energy and enthusiasm that students can offer. For you, it’s a great way to engage with the community, add to your CV, meet new people, and see more of the North East.
If you’re still undecided about whether to get involved, take a look at this presentation from the University’s Careers, Employment and Enterprise Centre to learn more about the value of volunteering.
If you’re keen to get stuck in, scroll down for more information on how to start.
How can I get involved?
SCA’s projects are open to everyone, and few require specific skills or experience. For more information on any of our projects, get in touch with Project Leaders or members of SCA staff, who can tell you more.
Project Leaders are responsible for introducing you to a project and giving you information about how to get involved. Leaders’ email addresses are available here, from the office, or in the Rough Guide.
If you’re interested in volunteering, you need to complete a registration form. Registration forms are available from the office in Durham Students’ Union or can be downloaded here. A CRB disclosure is required for any project in which you’ll be working regularly with the same group of children or vulnerable adults. SCA staff will be able to help with this, just email community.action@durham.ac.uk.
There is no right or wrong time to join SCA. Opportunities open throughout the year, so it’s often best to contact the office to get the latest news on what’s available. You can sign up to our mailing list to hear about new opportunities as they become available – just send us an e-mail and we’ll get in touch!
We’re proud to offer flexible and approachable projects to all students: contact the office if a project’s expected time commitments are unsuitable for you, and we’ll do our best to help.
What if no project looks right for me?
If you can’t picture yourself in any of SCA’s projects, staff are happy to explore opportunities to develop new projects to fit your interests and capabilities. Most projects are started by students with an initial idea, and we encourage creation and change of projects as situations demand. You can also sign up to our mailing list to hear about new opportunities as they become available – just send us an e-mail and we’ll get in touch!
