As 2015 draws to a close, here is a round-up of our latest impact and spotlights on some of our local projects. Happy reading and best wishes for the Christmas period from all of us at Student Hubs!
The past few months have seen a range of activity across our network – from tutoring school pupils in Bristol to befriending older people in London and Hampshire. Students at our 10 Hubs are now leading and developing more projects benefitting their local communities than ever before. It’s been quite the term, with:
– 862 students volunteering with 227 long-term community projects
– 51 student consultants working on projects for 13 Social Innovation Programme host organisations
– 28 incubated projects
– 30,232 students receiving our local newsletters
Thank you to all of our local and national partners for their ongoing collaboration and support.
Local spotlights
Schools Plus – London (Imperial, Kingston, SOAS)
Having launched at Imperial in 2012, Kingston in 2014 and SOAS this autumn, our London Hubs now run 67 Schools Plus projects with 134 volunteer tutors. These tutors work with over 360 children and young people, just under 20% of the 1827 Schools Plus supports nationally. Students help local primary pupils across the city to develop their reading and coding skills, as well as supporting secondary school pupils with a range of subjects, from languages to physics. According to one teacher, the tutors are ‘very positive role models’, whose support is highly valued by pupils and their parents.
Find out more about Schools Plus and our other projects.
Homelessness Initiatives – Bristol, Cambridge, Winchester
Students across our Hubs are championing initiatives to support homeless people in their cities. Bristol students have been busy collecting clothing donations and knitting scarves as part of the Keep Bristol Warm campaign. In Cambridge, students have been volunteering with Jimmy’s Cambridge and Wintercomfort, running a literary working group and planning a campaign for next term. In Winchester, students have been working with the Trinity day centre and Winchester Churches Nightshelter, knitting blankets and learning about local action they can take.
Contact your local Hub to get involved.
Coming Up
We’re looking ahead to a new year full of social action opportunities throughout the network, including:
– Student Volunteering Week – with 95 institutions registered to take part so far, make sure you’re signed up! Check out the list and get in touch with a nearby college or university to start planning your collaborative SVW activities.
– International Development, Sustainability and Brain Health Conferences at Bristol, Imperial, Southampton and Warwick.
– Tour des Hubs – an all new fundraising challenge for spring 2016. Look out for a grand reveal in the new year!
– Introduction to Impact Measurement – Thursday 4 February, 11am-5pm, London. Student Hubs have invested considerable resources into building our Theory of Change and impact framework. We have developed this day-long workshop to share insights into our approach, help you build a robust impact framework that suits your institution and plan for implementation of your new impact measurement system. Find out more and book your place.