► Info For External Orgs.

INFORMATION FOR EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS WISHING TO RECRUIT STUDENT VOLUNTEERS

Volunteer placements provide students with the opportunity to give their time and energy to local organisations within their host community whilst studying and, in return, meet new people and gain important transferable skills.

The Volunteering Shop believes it is essential to be professional, well organised, and adhere to good practice guidelines to ensure a high standard of voluntary opportunities are offered and all involved are happy and safe. We believe it is vital to ensure they only have positive experiences when volunteering, as a negative incident may prevent them from volunteering again.

The guidelines and responsibilities listed at the bottom of this page have been written to help ensure the smooth transition of placing student volunteers and to encourage organisations to provide well-run voluntary opportunities.

If you would like to recruit student volunteers please obtain the registration form and a role description form of each opportunity and send to volunteering@glos.ac.uk

Volunteer Recruitment

Due to the increasing pressures related to University life, requiring a large commitment from student volunteers can put them off. To avoid this please make your opportunities as flexible as possible and avoid commitments for more than a semester (roughly 4 months) as student timetables differ between semesters. You should also take into consideration that most students don't stay during vacations and may only be available for 30 weeks of the year.

External Opportunity Role Description

In order for the Volunteering Shop to advertise your volunteering opportunity to the students at the University of Gloucestershire, we ask you to complete a simple form that provides detailed information about the volunteering role and your organisation.

These forms can be downloaded by clicking on the links at the foot of this page.

What we ask of you

To follow recognised good practice guidelines for using volunteers
Keep records of volunteers recruited through the Volunteering Shop and respond to requests for feedback in order to monitor their progress
To inform us of any major changes or problems within your organisation

It would be helpful if you could compile an information pack for potential volunteers. Please supply us with a master copy so we can reproduce it for volunteers. This could include:

A brief history of the project
Where you are based including a map and info on bus routes etc
Details of current activities
Your statement of purpose and equal opportunities
Information about what a volunteer can expect at the project
A copy of your volunteer charter and induction procedure

What You Will Gain

By offering effective volunteer matching and support we will endeavour to ensure our students and staff remain enthusiastic and committed to their placement, which will result in them becoming an asset to your organisation. You will have the opportunity to advertise and recruit volunteers from a large pool of students.

Dissemination Of Your Information

The Volunteering Shop contacts its membership via e-mail, the student newspaper and ezines. Voluntary opportunities will also be posted on our notice boards an all four sites. Once registered your voluntary opportunities will be advertised using all of the above and listed on our website.