POLICY & PRACTICE: Soapbox - You don't need to bribe students intovolunteering
Tuesday, June 3, 2003
With tuition fees set to rise, it is easy to understand why a financial incentive might be a strong one when it comes to encouraging student activity. However, while research by Timebank reveals that 75 per cent of students would volunteer if it meant a cut in their college fees, I firmly believe that students would volunteer anyway - whether you slip them a fiver or not.
We decided to use Community Service Volunteers' (CSV) Make a Difference Day last year to launch a volunteering project at the University of Hull, to bridge the gap between young and old people in the community, with students inviting local elderly residents down to campus for tea.
Prior to Make a Difference Day, volunteering at the university was extremely limited: in fact it did not really exist. I had visions beforehand of a huge influx of elderly people but no students to talk to them or serve tea. But I was proved totally wrong. There was a constant, steady stream of volunteers through the door - over 30 in all. They were not clock-watching, or timing how long they had been there in order to convert that time into pounds off their college fees, they were there because they wanted to be.
Since Make a Difference Day, volunteering at the University of Hull has grown dramatically.
Students find volunteering develops relationships in the university, community and with potential employers. It is also a means of expanding their skills. For those who participated in Make a Difference Day, the skills were interpersonal, but recent projects have involved more specialist skills, such as coaching or conservation.
I believe students are increasingly aware of the benefits of volunteering in terms of their CV.
Application forms for many organisational jobs ask if you have taken part in volunteering projects or community events. The positive benefits of volunteering would be somewhat diminished should students have to throw in the "I did it because it cut my fees" response.
As a volunteer with the local 2nd Scarborough Boys' Brigade Company, I know that a financial incentive wouldn't motivate me to volunteer. I do it for the enjoyment, laughter and experience.
Make a Difference Day is on 25 October. Call CSV on 0800 284533, or visit www.csv.org.uk. See the Quick Guide to volunteering on p17.
Kelly Jackson, 24, volunteer with 2nd Scarborough Boys' Brigade Company, North Yorkshire
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