Greenhead Volunteering Scheme

Are you someone who gains satisfaction from helping others? If so, you can sign up for our Greenhead Volunteering Scheme.

Why volunteer?

As well as making a difference to the lives of others, volunteering can help broaden your horizons, raise aspirations and increase your employability skills for the future. Volunteering has been shown to improve volunteers’ wellbeing too. The experience will help you develop as a person and enable you to communicate with all sectors of the community. It’s an amazing way to meet a wide range of exciting people and experience different and demanding roles and maybe help you decide which career you are most suited to. It will strengthen your UCAS, apprenticeship or job applications, making you more employable.

When recruiting, a number of career areas look specifically for the type of people who are selflessly and generously willing to help others. Medicine, physiotherapy, nursing and primary teaching often require evidence of the exact amount of volunteering hours completed and all health care roles will expect to see volunteering experience on your application form.

Once you have found a suitable placement, volunteering can count as your main College enrichment activity (or an additional one) and is also an essential requirement of the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

The scheme runs throughout the year, generally on a Wednesday afternoon, but you can fit it around your studies on any other day, evenings or weekends.

Where can you volunteer?

When recruiting, organisations look for enthusiastic individuals who are prepared to undertake regular, long term placements. There are numerous opportunities, so when looking for a placement, it is advisable to find somewhere that you have a genuine interest in as you will be more committed.

Most students will find their own placement, but the College’s Volunteering Team also helps facilitate some opportunities and supports students with applications.

The most popular places our students volunteer at are:

Food banks

Primary, secondary or special schools

Charity shops

Libraries

Guides/Scouting

Hospitals/Hospices and care homes

Outdoor conservation activities eg Canal & River Trust

Sports coaching

Youth / Community groups

Whatever you choose to get involved with, you will be issued with a College certificate for demonstrating regular commitment to your volunteering over the academic year.

We are always looking for new volunteering opportunities for our students, so if you know of any areas within the community that would benefit from some help from our students, please contact: volunteer@greenhead.ac.uk

Whatever you choose to get involved with, you will be issued with a College certificate for demonstrating regular commitment to your volunteering over the academic year.