For Student Volunteering Week 2016, Hannah, a Cambridge Hub volunteer, shares what social action means to her and how it has shaped her university experience.
Since becoming one of the Events Officers for Cambridge Hub last year I have become addicted to volunteering in Cambridge. I find volunteering the best way to escape from Cambridge stress. There’s much more to life than reading books and volunteering helps keep me grounded in the real world of real people. Why sit in a library when you can try to change the world?! My days are now filled with little breaks and glimpses into exciting stuff and I learn something new every day.
Through my work at the Hub I have met the most caring, passionate students. The events we put on focus on getting even more amazing people to realise their potential and take action for issues they care about. From film screenings to a ‘Dinner in the Dark’ fundraiser using food that would have otherwise gone to waste, the Hub committee has tried to create an event for everyone. We especially want to reach out to people who think that volunteering and ethical issues are not their ‘thing’.
One of the best parts of my role is meeting people who have great ideas and helping them put these into action – it is so exciting! I have helped Baby Milk Action, a Cambridge based charity, to recruit a student committee. I have also worked with Cambridge PEN and Assyrian poet Nineb Lamassu to create a new writing project ‘Hireath’, which runs writing workshops for marginalised people.
Another benefit of volunteering for me has been developing a greater connection to the city in which I live. I feel confident and like I belong because I know more about the people who live in Cambridge. I’ve visited new areas of town, left my comfort zone, and engaged with my community in the process.
Volunteering with the Hub also means that I spend my days meeting people in socially impactful careers and this has made me really excited about the future. These people do what they love because they care, and they have worked really hard to get where they are. Now they do things which make a big impact on society. I know that there is more to life than studying and I’m excited to keep making change happen after graduation.
Join Hannah and share your social action experiences with us using #IVolunteerBecause on Facebook and Twitter. Let us know what you’re up to this week using #SVW2016, too! You can find activities taking place near you here and through your local Hub.