Your Union – Volunteering

People volunteer for many different reasons and we will try and help you to find a volunteering opportunity that helps you to get what you want from your experience.

Maybe you want to …

• give back to your community
• get to know New Cross
• support the students at Goldsmiths
• make new friends
• get some work experience
• do something interesting!

Whatever your reasons, there are lots of ways to get involved with volunteering through the students union.  Goldsmiths Students Union actively seeks to provide all volunteers with a positive and worthwhile experience of volunteering. We want everyone who volunteers with Goldsmiths Students’ Union to feel safe, supported and valued and to have fun.

If you want to volunteer for an organisation the local community then get in contact with the Student Development Coordinator. Alternatively you could try –

www.do-it.org.uk
or

Volunteer Centre Lewisham

If you’ve got an idea about how to make your community better there are lots of projects that you can start up. You can do it through a society, with the assistance of an existing organisation or start your own social enterprise.  If this sounds like something you’d like to do, again, contact the Student Development Coordinator.

Want to get involved in the 2012 Olympics and Para-Olympics?  Check out http://london2012.nus.org.uk/

If you’re a Goldsmiths Student and you want to find out what’s going on and what you can get involved with you can get in touch with the Be a Champion Ambassadors - london2012@goldsmithssu.org

Find us on Facebook - London 2012 Goldsmiths

The ACE (Active Community Engagement) Award is an award from Goldsmiths Students’ Union which recognises the hours that you put in to volunteering whether that be for us or in the community.  Just log your hours and when you reach 50 hours (bronze), 100 hours (silver) and 150 hours (gold) email volunteering@goldsmithssu.org to let us know.  Once we have verified your hours we will issue you with your certificate. As a perk of completing the ACE award you will also get -

Bronze - queue jumping privileges at The Stretch, £5 off a hoodie in the shop, entry into a weekly free draw for free entry into Club Sandwich.

Silver - all of bronze perks +1 free Sandwich entry per term, early bird rates on Students’ Union events after the early bird rate is finished.

Gold - all of the above plus free entry to Sandwich for the rest of the year.

There will also be promotions through out the year - to stay informed on this please join our Facebook group - Goldsmiths Students’ Union ACE Award.

You can sign up and get started here.

You can also take part in the Gold Award , which helps students to reflect on your activities, and analyse your own strengths and weakness. It will help you to develop your skills, make decisions about your future study or employment, and articulate your abilities to potential employers.

You can put on fundraising events, drive the safety night bus, help out with the walking taxi service – we have lots you can do!  If you want to get involved just get in contact with the Student Development Coordinator.

If you are volunteering directly for us, Goldsmiths Students’ Union will ensure that:
1. All volunteers are treated equally, in line with our equal opportunities policy. No volunteer will be excluded from volunteering on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, race, ethnicity or disability.
2. Your placement is assessed (as far as is reasonably practicable) as a safe place to volunteer prior to the start of your placement.
3. People with disabilities will be offered reasonable adjustments wherever possible.
4. You are given the opportunity to feed back to us on your experiences (we will take your comments seriously and will work towards positive change wherever possible).
5. You are given appropriate training and supervision.
6. You are able to access our grievance procedure should you have a complaint.
7. You are reimbursed for all reasonable out-of-pocket travel expenses.
8. All your personal data is stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998
9. You are insured whilst you are volunteering.

Student Development Coordinator
Hayley Chandler
T: 0208 692 1406
E: hayley.chandler@goldsmithssu.org

Volunteering Support
Rachel and Simon
volunteersupport@goldsmithssu.org

Welfare and Diversity Officer
Manoj Kerai
T: 0208 692 1406
E: manoj.kerai@goldsmithssu.org