1. Starting Society Volunteering
Dan Tinkler – Student Groups Coordinator
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2. What this session will cover?
Who is a volunteer?
Why people volunteer?
How to Start Society Volunteering
Volunteering with DSU
Where DSU Can Help You
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3. ‘Volunteering plays a vital role in developing students’ community awareness, allowing them to break out of what many respondents describe as the ‘student bubble’.1
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1. ,John Snow Bursting the Bubble Report (2010), NCVO.

4. Who is a Volunteer?
Write down any word you associate with volunteering or the type of person who volunteers.
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5. Who is a Volunteer?
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6. Why People Volunteer?
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7. Why People Volunteer? Meet new people Something to do Gain new skills
Make new friends
Boost employability
Leadership opportunity
Become part of a community
Escape the ‘Student Bubble’
Help others
Do something different
Makes them feel good.
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8. How to Start Society Volunteering
38 % of student volunteers are introduced to volunteering through their university or students’ union 48% of volunteers give their time to formal volunteering activities that benefit the wider community but without receiving any support from their university
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1,Bursting the Bubble Report (2010), NCVO.

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The Student Volunteering Landscape, Helen Kerr & Fiona Ellison, NUS (2014)

10. How to Start Society Volunteering
Decide what it is you want to do. Make it relative to your society.
Who do you want to work with?
What are you trying to achieve?
Write clear volunteering roles, share these with the Activities Office.
Is there a need for what you want to do in the community? – It must benefit the community and your members.
Approach the people you want to work with. Take your idea and what you will be offering them. It may take negotiation.
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11. How to Start Society Volunteering
Set clear timeframes. Is it weekly, one off, fortnightly???
Recruit volunteers from your society.
Find a committee member who will be the lead person.
Endure volunteers meet criteria (DSU will help)
Organise volunteer introduction so they all understand role
Start volunteering!
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12. Students who volunteer were more likely to take part in other extracurricular activities, both on and off campus. Working during term time had very little impact on reported volunteering.1
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1 Student Volunteers: A national profile, Clare Holdsworth, Volunteering England, p.2

13. Volunteering with DSU
There are a variety of ways to volunteer with DSU
Campaigns – Student Volunteering Week
MyUniPal, offering peer support in your society.
Specific Volunteering Programmes
Societies in Schools (watch this space)
Enterprising Volunteering
Environmental Volunteering
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14. Volunteering with DSU
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15. Where DSU Can Help You.
Structure – we’re specialists. Development meetings can be held to help you plan a programme.
DBS Checks, we can conduct these. You will need them to work alone with children or vulnerable adults.
Provide links into community organisations.
Funding – specific money is available just for volunteering.
Providing charity letters when approaching organisations.
Help with writing whatever you need.
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16. Get in Touch Societies@dmu.ac.uk Volunteer@dmu.ac.uk
If you’re as nerdy as the activities office, read this report on student volunteering. ,
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