“Everybody should have the opportunity to do something like this because it is so rewarding and enriching.”
Luke Grierson, first year Politics student and Bristol Hub Volunteer
With the upcoming elections and current times of political and economic turmoil, having the knowledge, opportunity and confidence to create social change is more important than ever!
Voting is not the only way to make change: our Inspire Debate Change programme promotes civic education to inspire the next generation of active citizens. Read on to hear about one of our volunteer’s experience of delivering the programme in a local school.
Meet Luke, first year student in Politics. He helped deliver Inspire Debate Change at Hareclive Academy, in Hartcliffe, South Bristol.
As a small group of student volunteers, we went into a local primary school to deliver sessions to around 10 kids aged 9-10. The aim of the sessions was to give them a sense of civic empowerment, and a sense of self-belief. We taught them debating skills, the basics of our political system.. a whole rounded education on politics and how to make a change in society.
He really enjoyed the programme because the children engaged so well with the sessions, and he could see what difference it made.
It was so surprising how engaged they were! Week after week, they were so excited to be there.
The confidence growth in the children was pretty amazing to see, from where we started to where we ended. It was my favourite thing to see them develop as young people.
It’s inspired him for a future career:
It was a really good experience, I felt myself developing as a communicator or teacher. It even made me consider wanting to be a teacher! I can see how good a task teaching is, and also how hard it is! It was really rewarding either way and I would definitely recommend it.
He found that dealing with different types of children was probably where he learnt the most.
We had quite a small group, but they were all pretty different in terms of attitude, behaviour and outlook… I learnt how to engage with all different types of learners, how to explain stuff to different people, depending on what they understand.
That was a useful experience for the world of work where I will have to work with different people. It’s a good transferable skill that helped me develop.
He met new friends thanks for the programme:
It gave me an opportunity to be friends with people I just wouldn’t naturally stumble across. We’ve got a shared interest and bond from doing [the programme] together and helping other people. I wouldn’t have encountered [the other volunteers] at university, but I’m very glad I did. That kind of social aspect is underrated.
It also helped him with his degree:
It really complements my learning: when you know how to teach, I think you know how to learn easier. You understand different ways of delivering information, so you also know different, better ways of absorbing information.
And he got to learn more about Bristol:
It was exciting to travel somewhere new and that brightened my day. I was able to discover more of Bristol as I had never been in that area.
Half the kids had a proper Bristol accent. You don’t hear Bristol accents at Uni. It gave me a sense of where I am and orientated me around [the city].
A final highlight?
After the poster-making session, I took a picture of some of their posters because they were so sweet. I was literally looking at it this morning, it just makes me feel happy. One of them literally says ‘Treat everyone with kindness’ and it’s got some drawings of flowers and drawings of people hugging each other. It’s just so nice.
Don’t forget to exercise your own citizen’s right to vote at the upcoming general elections on 4th July!
Want to tackle social issues? Find volunteering opportunities with SU Volunteering Hub or sign up to the newsletter to get the latest updates!