London Student Volunteering Fortnight - The Clothing Challenge

For 139 years the Whitechapel Mission have been serving the homeless and marginalised– through a day centre, skills training and career advice, activity programmes and specialist support for complex needs. Open every day of the year, the Mission make a positive and lasting difference to the 300+ homeless who ask for their help and come through their doors on a daily basis.

 The Mission could not do this without support from volunteers. In 2014-15 QMSU Volunteers gave up 790 hours of their time to help support the fantastic work of the Mission.

As part of the Clothing Challenge volunteers sort, measure, size, and hang donated clothing, ready for distribution for the local homeless. It sounds like a small task but it's one that makes a huge improvement to the self-esteem, comfort and future prospects of local homeless individuals.

As part of London Student Volunteering Fortnight 9 volunteers this time not just from Queen Mary, but from a whole range of other London Universities including Kings, LSE, City and Imperial, came together to volunteer at the Clothing Challenge at the Whitechapel Mission.

Winston Lo, a Geography student from Queen Mary, tells us about the volunteering experience:

“In the midst of the fresh drizzle of an autumn morning, were eagerly waiting in anticipation of the Clothing Challenge at the Whitechapel Mission.

The early start did little to discourage the enthusiasm, as the excitement of the volunteers was infectious. This atmosphere was further heightened as the lovely staff at the Whitechapel Mission gleefully welcomed us, introducing the wonderful facets of the charity and their activities.

Soon after, we were acquainted with our clothes stations, where we would be spending the succeeding hours sorting, measuring, sizing and hanging donated clothing ready for distribution to the local homeless. The clear instruction was to only process clothes we would be “proud to be seen with our partner wearing”; to our amusement. The staggering plethora of clothes led to the inception of a small fashion show amongst the volunteers, parading the most daring and outrageous items of clothing, resulting in hilarious photos.

Before we knew it, our time at the Whitechapel Mission was ending. The feeling of disappointment of the conclusion of our volunteering demonstrated the unanimous consensus of how marvellous our morning was, working towards a truly worthy cause.

On behalf of all the volunteers I express my deepest gratitude to the Whitechapel Mission for allowing us to participate at the charity. We departed inspired, ardent to engage in more volunteering in the future.”

Other volunteers who took part said “It was a good opportunity to take hours out of a busy study schedule to give back to the community” and “finding out that there are so many people who are willing to help out the needy and disadvantaged inspired me to do my part in making the community I live in a better place to live”.

Pictures from this opportunity are available on the QMSU Volunteering Facebook page. 

Hang out with History

Despite the weather not being on our side, 15 volunteers from Imperial , UCL, KCL, UEL, Queen Mary’s and UWL braved a chilly and damp October afternoon to ‘Hang out with History’ at the Royal Brompton Cemetery for London Student Volunteering Fortnight (LSVF).

Armed with a pair of secateurs and a wooden kitchen spatula (an essential tool to carefully prise the ivy away from tombs without causing damage), we began tackling the ivy and brambles that are surrounding the 50,000 tombs that are in the cemetery, 100 of which David – lead volunteer from the Friends of Brompton Cemetery – thought we might be able tackle in the two hours we spent with him.

The event bought together student volunteers from institutions from all corners of London from a vast array of academic backgrounds introducing them to a new area of the city they have come to study and live in.

Conci, a second year Aeronautical Engineering student from Imperial, said the experience was a great opportunity that allowed students to get in touch with history and nature whilst volunteering with others

Molly, a Bioarchaeological and Forensic Anthropology Masters student from UCL, said that community volunteering is great for students as it gives the mind a break from writing papers and reading books, seeing benefits for both students and the community. “Students don’t just exist in a bubble encompassed by their school – that exists within a larger community. So I think it’s necessary for students to understand how they fit into that larger community, a good way to do that is to volunteer within it. I personally get a lot of happiness out of helping a community”. 

‘Hang out with History’ is one of the many examples of the contributions that student volunteers make to London. There will be hundreds of students volunteering throughout LSVF and thousands volunteer all year round making a huge difference to life in the capital. We owe them all a massive THANK YOU!  

Planting Poppies at the Tower of London

Student volunteers kick off LSVF at the Tower of London

Last weekend 50 students from a range of London Universities volunteered their Saturday afternoon at the Tower of London for the launch of London Student Volunteering Fortnight 2014 (LSVF2014). Students volunteered as a team alongside volunteers from the public to assemble and plant poppies in the moat of the Tower of London, as part of an art installation which commemorates the centenary of WW1. 

 

Despite the abundance of smiling selfies and photos taken this volunteering opportunity was a truly “compelling and eye opening experience”, a “real insight into the hard-hitting true meaning of what this installation represents”. 

"Planting poppies reminded me that the peace we have today is brought by the soldiers who sacrificed their lives"

Volunteering Assistant at Queen Mary, University of London, Bronwen Eastaugh said: "There has been an overwhelming level of interest from volunteers from all over the UK to take part and the students were really aware of how privileged they were to have had the opportunity to volunteer.  

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came along to volunteer- I hope that you had a worthwhile experience!"

Have a look on QMSU Volunteering Facebook page to see photographs from the day. Send us your photographs and comments to #LSVF2014. 

 

LSVF runs from 25 October-8 November and is an annual fixture in the calendar for London students. During the fortnight there are a range of taster sessions or one-off volunteering events for all London students to get involved with, as a way for them to experience volunteering, build relations with the community, gain new skills and make new friendships. If you’re interested in seeing what opportunities are taking place over the next 2 weeks have a look at the LSVF Eventbrite page.

 

LSVF is brought to you by a number of London universities, with the support of Team London. 

London Student Volunteering Fortnight Begins!!!!

Thank you to all of you who have registered for events that feature in a full and active two weeks of volunteering in the capital!!!!

The first volunteering event will start tomorrow with our student volunteers supporting the Poppy Appeal at the Tower of London.

There is still time to register to be involved in London Student Volunteering Fortnight, so please hit the Eventbrite button on this page to find out more about the types of events that are available or speak to your university coordinator to find out more.

If you still need further encouragement about the value of volunteering please see this article by the Telegraph to mark the launch of Student Volunteering Fortnight.

See you all soon!

The LSVF Team

LSVF events are now live!

Hi Student Volunteers!

 Welcome to our new students and welcome back to our returning students!

We have some really exciting opportunities available for London Student Volunteering Fortnight, from supporting the British Legion to getting muddy on a muck in day - there is sure to be an opportunity for you!  To take a look and register now please head to our eventbrite calender ! 

Also, if you are looking for ongoing volunteering opportunities please do speak to your university volunteering teams. See you soon!

London Student Volunteering Network

Welcome to London Student Volunteering!

London Student Volunteering Fortnight 2014 is an opportunity for London students to get involved in a range of one-off information and taster events with local charities across London. Full event listings and information will be available soon, watch this space!