Volunteering: A guide for international students

Introduction

Kent Union provides a service to help and support students to volunteer. The service offered is based on UK best practice and includes:

·  Help finding appropriate placements

·  Support with practicalities such as expenses and criminal record checks

·  Support with any problems experienced whilst on a placement

·  Funding opportunities for student led projects

·  Opportunities to gain recognition

The members of staff who offer support to student volunteers are based in the Students Activities Centre which is located above Essentials. If you have any questions about volunteering you can simply come into the office any time between 9am and 6pm Monday to Friday or contact David Bolsover on 01227 824232 or at . There is also a lot of information available on the volunteering pages of the Kent Union website www.kentunion.co.uk/volunteering .

Investing in Volunteers (IIV)

Investing in Volunteers is the UK quality standard for all organisations that involve volunteers in their work. The Standard enables organisations to comprehensively review their volunteer management, and also publicly demonstrates their commitment to volunteering. The Student Activities Centre currently holds the standard and will be going through the re-accreditation process in 2009. During the re-accreditation process our assessor will visit us to assess our progress and will interview some volunteers so you may be involved in the process.

Reasons to volunteer

People choose to volunteer for many different reasons and with students coming from around the world to study at Kent it is understandable that there may be some cultural differences. The following are some examples of the reasons that people choose to volunteer and the benefits that they get from it:

·  To give back to a chosen cause

·  For enjoyment

·  To develop skills and increase employability

·  To investigate potential career paths or try something new

·  To build confidence

·  To meet new people

·  To get off campus

·  To use skills

·  For challenge

·  To make good use of spare time

Volunteering Opportunities

There are a number of different types of volunteering that you can do. There are no particular times of year when you need to start and the commitment required can be as little as 2 hours a week or even just one day. These are some of the most common types of volunteering undertaken by students at the University of Kent:

Community Placements

These usually involve a regular commitment with a charity, school or hospital. There are a wide range of roles available such as mentoring, fundraising, running group activities, gardening, catering, administration etc and you should be able to find an organisation that works for a cause that interests you. This kind of placement provides a good opportunity to get experience of working within an existing organisation. Kent Union has an online database www.kentunionvolunteering.co.uk that you can use to search for community placements.

Student Led Volunteering Projects

These are activities organised and run by students independently of an outside organisation. Some projects are run by students that have formed groups of people who wish to contribute to a certain cause. These types of projects include fundraising activities, awareness campaigns, running group activities and providing services.

One-off projects/events

Some people who would like to volunteer find that they have too many commitments to be able give time on a regular basis. One-off projects provide a good way to do some volunteering without having to give a regular commitment. Typical activities include garden projects, painting and decorating, beach cleans or helping at sporting events.

Clubs or Societies Committees

There are many societies and sports clubs at Kent University. Each of these has a committee who are responsible for running the group.

Course Representatives

This is a chance to represent the views of your peers about academic related issues and involves communicating with staff and students in your department. To become a course representative you’ll need to be elected into the position in October.

Raise and Give (RAG)

RAG is a fundraising group here at Kent that works to raise funds for charities locally, nationally and internationally. They organise fantastic events including charity balls, sponsored challenges and many more.

Welcome Week

Welcome week is an extremely popular time for students to volunteer and engage with new students on campus in September. Activities include assisting new students to locate their rooms, helping to carry possessions to the room and providing information on the college and campus. Some students even help by meeting international students at London airports. This involves meeting and greeting, assisting with the collection and delivery of luggage to coaches and accompanying international students on coaches to Kent.

Are you allowed to volunteer?

If you are coming to Kent from outside the EU or EEA you should check your visa or entry clearance conditions to make sure that you are allowed to volunteer in addition to studying. Sometimes volunteering is described as ‘unpaid work’ in this type of documentation. It’s very important that you do this as you could jeopardise your visa status by volunteering if you are not allowed to.

If you have a student visa it should be ok for you to volunteer but there is a limit of 20 hours per week during term time. This limit is for 20 hours of paid work, volunteering or a combination of both. If you are unsure of whether or not you have permission to volunteer please bring your visa into the office and we should be able to help you.

Screening

If you would like to volunteer with children or vulnerable adults you may be required to have a Criminal Records Bureau check or to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority. If you are volunteering on a community placement, the organisation you are volunteering with should arrange this with you. If the volunteering is a student led project or organised by Kent Union, we will provide you with any forms and information you need to be able to do this. More information about checks can be found at following websites:

www.crb.gov.uk

www.isa-gov.org.uk

Expenses

Volunteers are entitled to claim back any travel expenses or other expenses that they have incurred through their volunteering activity provided that this has been agreed in advance by a member of staff. More information about claiming expenses can be found on the Kent Union website. Please remember to speak to a member of Kent Union staff to confirm that you can claim your expenses.

Kent Student Certificate for Volunteering (KSCV)

The KSCV is a joint award from the Union and the University that recognises your volunteering achievements. It looks great on your CV and there are now a range of different awards:

KSCV - Log 25 hours and complete a training analysis

KSCV Silver – Log 50 hours, complete a training analysis and review your volunteering with a member of staff in the Student Activities Centre

KSCV Gold – Log 100 hours and do all of the above as well as attending 2 training sessions, giving a short presentation (7-10 minutes) and producing a written reflection on your volunteering (750 words)

KSCV Platinum – The highest level of award, complete 6 modules of volunteering across 2 academic years,as well as a panel presentation, a portfolio of evidence and a written assessment to gain this award.

Depending on your course, the KSCV Platinum can be a credit bearing module (15 credits instead of another module choice) available in your second year on the scheme. If that is not possible, it will appear on your degree transcript as an extra module on top of the modules that you would need to undertake in order to meet your degree requirements.

The KSCV Platinum is designed to really challenge student volunteers; take you out of your comfort zone, and push you to develop yourself to your full potential.For this reason, it is higly recommended that you speak to a member of volunteering staff before committing to the Award to ensure that it is suitable foryou.This scheme is the highest level of award, and as such, while it is the most challenging, it is also the most rewarding. All students on the KSCV Platinum are assigned a mentor throughout the duration of the scheme.

The 6 KSCV Platinum modules are:

·  Active University Volunteering

·  Active Community Volunteering

·  Project Leadership

·  Training Facilitation

·  Committee Role

·  Mentoring

Setting Objectives and Logging Hours

If you are working towards any of the KSCV certificates, you will need to register and use the database at www.kentunionvolunteering.co.uk to set training and personal objectives and keep a log of the time you spend volunteering. Please feel free to use the table below to start logging your hours but you will need to transfer and continue logging them online.

Date / Type of Activity / Total
Hours / Cumulative Hours

Award Ceremonies

There are 2 volunteering award ceremonies every year (November and May) so you have lots of time to get the certificate that is right for you.

More information about the KSCV can be found at www.kentunion/volunteering