Case Study: Ewelina Bredzinska
Student & Social Media Volunteer
Karen Miller, Volunteer Development Officer
(February 2017)
University West of Scotland (UWS) actively promotesup to date volunteering opportunities and placements to their students. UWS recognise the importance of students gaining practical experience to enhance academic learning.
As active members of Renfrewshire’s Volunteer Manager Forum, chaired by Engage Renfrewshire,UWS has links with over 40 agencies and statutory partners, all of whom recruit or manage volunteers in some capacity. This gives immediate access to recruiting organisations and links to advertised posts, plus the ability to attend meetings to partnership and ‘spotlight’projects.
Meg Dunn, UWS, External Engagement Business Partner is a contributor to this Forum and this is where Ewelina Bredzinska discovered that Engage Renfrewshire provides a volunteering service.
Ewelina is studying BSc Business Technology at University West of Scotland (UWS) Paisley Campus and is in her second year. Being pro-active and looking for practical experience, Ewelina decided to apply for an advertised post to help Engage Renfrewshire increase their social media presence in the area of volunteering.
Following successful interview, Ewelina commenced her role in January 2017 and was encouraged to use her creativity and own initiative to focus on improving Facebook material to increase statistics.
As shown below, Ewelina’s involvement has clearly had an impact on the number of people who are engaging with our social media output.
On a typical day Ewelina checks Volunteer Renfrewshire Facebook statistics and uses different approaches to increase interest of potential volunteers. She uses graphic design software to create posters and graphics to advertise volunteer opportunities on Facebook. Example is shown on the picture on front page.
Ewelina tries to gain interest from younger people by posting information on how they can benefit from volunteering. She also makes links with other communities on social media to promote local events such as Volunteer Celebration Week and tries to promote Volunteer Renfrewshire Facebook page on other social media sites.
Engage Renfrewshire is already very impressed by Ewelina’s contribution to their social media and advertising presence. Since she started, the interest in volunteering in Paisley and Renfrewshire has risen and Facebook page content is more consistent.
What Ewelina enjoys most in volunteering is being able to meet new people, have real office work experience and give something back to the community. In her spare time Ewelina likes to travel, learn new languages and photograph nature.
Engage Renfrewshire really appreciates and values Ewelina’s contribution and look forward to an ongoing volunteering relationship with her for the foreseeable future. Ewelina will be supported to gain as much practical experience and gain a credible reference as well as Saltire Awards for her volunteering efforts.
Ewelina says “I think this is a fantastic opportunity to meet new people and increase my employability skills”.