Saturday 21-08-2021 - 14:24

The Student Volunteering Network national conference 2021 will be taking place online on 31st Aug - 2nd September.

We have a great agenda, so have a look below at what you can expect to see this year and to register in advance!

 

TUESDAY, 31ST

 

10:30 - 11:20

Introductory plenary - UK SVN National conference 2021

Register here:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpdOiqqj0jHtT4-BT5GNCyebyEzB_GM5HV

This session will open our national conference and is an opportunity for you to know more about SVN, what we do, how to get involved and have access to our resources, mailing list etc.

We will review everything we accomplished this year and any changes we implemented

We would also love to hear your views and ideas on what you would like us to work on for next year.

Ending orphanage volunteering

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkduisqj0uHdKj8GdB9DfgLzCiPRacsheM

This session will look at the dangers of student volunteering in orphanages or similar institutions overseas. We will give detailed information about the research that is behind the issue, such as the breadth of the problem and the issues it creates with children, and explain about a new campaign that is aimed at university volunteer centres. We will also give advice about alternative types of trips that can be just as rewarding for the students but do not endanger local people.

David is the Volunteer Centre Manager at the London School of Economics. He aims to inspire and empower students to volunteer for causes they are passionate about. He has worked with hundreds of charities at LSE and previously worked at Do-it, the UK’s National Volunteering Database. David also campaigns for responsible international volunteering, is a football coach and has volunteered as a photographer for several charities. He is also a member of the national committee of the Student Volunteering Network.  // https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-coles-a2a53731/ // @dave_coles

Aisling

Aisling is an Advocacy and Campaigns Officer at Lumos, the charity founded by J.K. Rowling to help ensure all children and young people grow up in loving families. Her work at Lumos has focused in particular on the issue of institution-related trafficking, and the participation of care-experienced children and young people in Lumos’ work. Prior to this role Aisling worked at Education and Employers, where she worked on projects which aimed to ensure children and young people had access to good careers education. Aisling studied English Literature at the University of York and has a Masters in Human Rights Law from Queens University Belfast. She is currently based in London, and enjoys reading and outdoor swimming.

The past year has shown us how much more prepared we need to be to adapt our volunteering programmes, not only at Higher Education Institutions but also for third sector organisations. 

So where are we heading? Is a hybrid approach here to stay? What does it mean and what does it look like?

During this workshop we will discuss ideas, share challenges and support each other in coming up with suggestions that might be useful for Volunteering Professionals in the sector

Mariana Vieira da Rocha, originally from Portugal, started volunteering when she was 7 years old and has not stopped since. She's moved to the UK ten years ago and has been working in Volunteering and Higher Education for the past 9 years. She is also a Co-Founder and Director at SPEAK London, a C.I.C that connects migrants, refugees and locals living in the same city.. Recently established as a freelancer, Mariana is an expert in helping people connect to opportunities they feel passionate about and provides consultancy and training facilitation in a range of topics. // LinkedIn: linkedin.com/marianavrocha // Twitter: @mariana_v_rocha

A review of the 6 principles of youth social action by the #iwill campaign, and how to conduct an audit of what these mean and how they are currently embedded in your organisation's student opportunities. The session is designed to support staff to reflect on their practice, take away a framework to audit programmes, and examples from Student Hubs of how this can be delivered in practice. 

Fiona works for Student Hubs as their Partnerships and Development Director and has over 6 years experience working in the education and charity sectors. Student Hubs works with 1800+ students each year across 5 university partners to engage students in volunteering. // https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-walsh-66a59b9a // @StudentHubs // @Fiona_Walshh (Twitter)

How volunteering is good for employability 

How to help students to recognise what they have achieved 

How to help students elevate their impact, in turn elevating their employability.  

After spending 8 years as a student volunteer, Joshua has now been on the other side as a member of staff supporting students to volunteer for 3 years. He is passionate about meaningful opportunities and encouraging students to step up and become trustees. After receiving a British Empire Medal for his covid volunteering in 2020, he wants to enable students to help charities recover post pandemic. // linkedin.com/in/joshua-hale-2021 // @Joshua_BathSU (Twitter)

The SVN committee will be sharing the result of the end of the year survey that was sent to HEI and FEI across the UK.

This session will also include different open rooms to discuss the survey results and other topics such as SVW, Volunteering Fairs, One-off volunteering opportunities, hybrid programmes and others.