August Update: New Staff, 17/18 Impact and Programme Updates
August has been a month of change for Southampton Hub as we welcomed a new member of staff, finished our impact reporting for the year and got stuck into programme updates and improvements ready for next month.
Staff update:
We are very pleased to welcome Sophie Ford as our new Youth Projects Officer joining the Southampton team!
Sophie will be supporting all of our youth projects (Branch Up, Sport England programmes, Empower, Code Plus and Libraries Plus) other than Schools Plus, which Fiona, the Southampton Hub Manager, will be supporting.
Sophie’s excited to get started with the role and has been doing lots of induction training and activities with Fiona. This week staff went to go visit Kingston Hub (pictured left at Bill’s, Kingston) to go visit their team and say hello to Clara, our former Southampton Hub Projects Officer.
Look out for Sophie at selection and training workshops for programmes this year!
Impact report 17/18:
Southampton Hub have completed their impact reports for the year, with the impact report for Student Hubs coming out shortly. The feedback we received from students this year highlighted many areas which were a success, and some areas where we could improve our programmes even more.
Key headlines include:
- We had 207 volunteers, held 58 training events and launched 2 brand new programmes (Empower and Active);
- 93% of students are likely or extremely likely to recommend our programmes to a friend;
- 74% of students strongly agreed or agreed that they felt more connected to the local community through volunteering with Southampton Hub;
- 58% of students agreed or strongly agreed that taking part in Southampton Hub programmes had enhanced their overall university experience.
We’re thrilled with the results of our reporting this year, but we are also very excited to develop programmes and make even more impact for 18/19 on students and the community. You will see links to our impact reports on our social media and website very soon!
Programme updates:
Out of staff, student and community partner feedback, the staff team are working with the committee and project sub-committees to improve all of our programmes for this year. You can see in our impact reports what practically some of these changes will look like, but in general students taking part in Southampton Hub next year can expect to see:
- More training for projects and opportunities for project and issue-specific training throughout the academic year;
- At least three events across the academic which invites student volunteers from all programmes to get to know each other, socialise and develop with training and support;
- Minor or moderate changes to how staff, committee members and sub-committee members support volunteers during their placements;
- More training and support specifically around skills and employability;
- Selection and training presentations and resources developed which provide information on reasonable adjustments, DBS checking, who to speak to if you have an issue or problem in a programme, and how to get support from staff.
We want to hear what you have to say throughout the year about these changes, so make sure you make your voice heard throughout the year by filling out programme feedback and speaking to your sub-committee, the committee and staff members throughout the year!
September programme recruitment:
Our programme applications will be opening in September; you can register your interest now here. We are very excited to have new partners in several of our programmes this year, providing more opportunities for you to get involved with different age groups and people in the community.
That’s it for August! Keep up to date with our Facebook, Twitter and website in the meantime for any updates, and we look forward to seeing you all in September.