There are several volunteering opportunities that staff are involved with at the moment but that will always require more volunteers. You can register your interest for any of the following at any time. Please contact Sarah Hosten, Staff Volunteering Coordinator.
Volunteering opportunities in the Scheme are loosely categorised under the following headings - education, disability, homelessness and environment.
Education:
Assisting children at a local primary school with reading and maths has proved invaluable over the years, and staff who have previously undertaken the activity have found the experience both rewarding and gratifying to see the progress made by pupils.
Staff interested in the activity will join a pool of volunteers within the University, who attend once every two weeks for two hours at a time, in pairs. Staff provide assistance to pupils who are experiencing difficulty with reading and maths, and guidance isprovided to volunteers to maximise the impact of the tutoring.
This new arrangement with Grestone Primary School will result in each member of staff only needing to attend the school twice each term, but obviously more if they wish. The flexible nature of the arrangement will allow staff to swap dates with others in the pool, and not commit to any dates which are inconvenient or dates which beyond one term.
You will need to allow approximately two and a half hours for each session, including travelling time, and transport will be provided to and from the school.
A new staff volunteering opportunity has been sourced in partnership with RNIB and Action for Blind People. This is a pilot project run by Action for Blind People which is funded until April 2012, and hopefully if it proves successful, will be funded indefinitely.
The activity will see staff act as buddies to blind or partially sighted people, guiding them whilst out shopping and/or travelling around the Birmingham area. This activity does not require a regular commitment and frequency/timings will depend on the needs of the client and your availability. These could be one-off events or a series of sessions until the client is comfortable in undertaking the activity independently.
Each session will be around 2 hours plus travelling time, and expenses will be paid.
