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April 2004/21
Good practice

This report is for information

Student volunteering: case studies of good practice from HEACF

Projects funded by the Higher Education Active Community Fund; case studies compiled by the Careers Research and Advisory Centre

This document provides case studies of good practice in volunteering by HE students and staff, funded by the Higher Education Active Community Fund (HEACF). They cover a broad range of activities, and aim to provide a sound resource for practitioners or managers of volunteering in HE. The studies are organised in sections which are relevant to both HEACF projects and other ongoing volunteering activities.

Updated and expanded case studies were published on the HEACF site in March 2006.

Introduction

Overview of contents with links to each of the nine main sections.

List of projects

Cross-reference guide with secondary headings to help users looking for more specific information.

Resources on the web

Introduction

The Higher Education Active Community Fund (HEACF) enhances the key role played by higher education institutions (HEIs) in their local communities. The HEACF funds institution-wide co-ordination and generation of volunteering activity within HEIs, and encourages collaboration with established volunteering organisations.

Volunteering helps to promote a fairer, more cohesive society in which individuals feel they have a stake. It also helps to build bridges between communities and local organisations such as HEIs. Increasing the involvement of HEIs with their communities should help staff and students to gain new perspectives, enable students to develop employment skills, and help to enhance the quality of life in disadvantaged sections of the community.

These case studies of good practice in student volunteering funded by the HEACF cover a broad range of activities. They aim to provide a sound resource for practitioners or managers of the fund. Contributors come from the spectrum of HEACF practitioners, including students' unions, volunteering units, careers services and cross-university collaborations.

The case studies very much reflect the diversity of HEACF activities and of its practitioners. They are organised in sections which are relevant to HEACF activities and ongoing volunteering activities alike.

Examples have been compiled and edited by the Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC). CRAC is an educational charity, whose purpose is to advance the education of the public, and young people in particular, in lifelong career related learning for all.

The HEACF is administered by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), and is part of the Government's wider Active Community initiative. In phases 1 and 2 of the fund, HEFCE is a partner alongside the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Home Office. The HEACF commenced in March 2002, and it is due to end in August 2006.

Notes on contributions

HEACF practitioners within HEIs were asked to submit case studies as part of the HEACF Student Volunteering Awards Programme.

Guidance on submissions was provided; this can be downloaded from www.heacf-awards.ac.uk.

Case studies were selected according to the following criteria:

  • relevance to HEACF
  • transferability
  • subject diversity
  • quality of entry.

In some cases, contributions were not selected due to the sheer volume of entries on a particular subject.

The following submissions were selected by the editorial team as exemplars, and were invited to present and exhibit at the HEACF Student Volunteering Awards Ceremony in December 2003:

  • Case study R1: Manchester Student Volunteers Taster Sessions University of Manchester and UMIST
  • Case study R4: 'Just Do It' Recruitment Event University of Northumbria at Newcastle
  • Case study ES3: Project Leaders Scheme University College London
  • Case study ES4: A Blueprint for Sustainable Volunteering University of Sheffield
  • Case study C4: Promotion of volunteering as an opportunity for students London Metropolitan University
  • Case study R6: Sponte Community Volunteer Scheme - It matters to you. It matters to them Staffordshire University Students' Union
  • Case study R7: TVU Volunteers - Volunteering Awareness Thames Valley University

The following submissions were selected by the editorial team as 'highly commended':

  • Case study T1: Involve University of Birmingham
  • Case study P3: University and Students' Union Partnership University of Plymouth