Student Volunteering Week: five reasons to volunteer with Action!

Student Volunteering Week kicks off today, running 20-26 February, led by the Student Volunteering Network with support from Student Hubs and the NUS. The theme this year is participation, collaboration and celebration.

Getting involved as a volunteer with Action Medical Research offers students the opportunity to work with a leading children's medical research charity - helping make a big difference to the live of sick babies and children. What better way to participate and collaborate! We are currently funding research into conditions including prematurity, epilepsy, meningitis, cerebral palsy, brain cancer and some rare and distressing conditions. We have a legion of volunteers, including students, who assist in a variety of ways that are are at the heart of our success. Always a cause for celebration!

We’d love to connect with more student volunteers who are able to spare some time, even if it’s just for five minutes. We need you! Can you help?

• Join in or help out with one of our events, especially our cycling and Treks through the Night.
• Be a Student Ambassador helping market our dynamic outdoor events and get hands-on promotional experience.
• Get your RAG to help – put us forward or organise a special event to raise funds.

​Jane Charlton, Volunteer Development Manager says: "Volunteers are a crucial and highly valued part of our team and we are enormously grateful for the loyal and dedicated support of all those who lend us a hand. Thank you, we couldn’t do it without you!

And if you need more reasons, how about these five including quotes from a few of our amazing volunteers:

1. You'll make new friends

Whether you are new to the city you are studying in or have lived there for a while (and are getting bored of your current friends!), volunteering is a great way to meet new people and make some like-minded new friends. Join Action as a volunteer and you get the chance to work with a friendly team. We really are a thoroughly nice bunch!

"I feel very valued, my efforts are really appreciated
and it is a lovely group of people to work with."

2. You'll build valuable skills for your CV

Everyone who volunteers with Action receives top-quality training. The skills you develop will help you stand out from the crowd and give your CV that wow factor! Whether it's event organisation, charity fundraising, office-based skills, public speaking or marketing and promotion skills you need - it's a two-way relationship and we can help you by helping us.

"It helped me stand out & definitely helped me get my first job!"

3. You'll have fun!

We understand the dangers of 'all work and no play'. Many of our fundraising campaigns and events are built around that ever important feel good factor. We are hardworking, committed and determined but we also know how to have a good time and spread the feeling!

"The team is extremely welcoming and events are always well organised.
I have had so much fun attending these: all parties from organiser to participator
are fuelled with enthusiasm that carries you through until the end."

4. Volunteering can be super flexible, whether you have five minutes or five hours!

Volunteering doesn’t need to take hours of your time, it can take as little as five minutes to make a difference. Some superfast ways you could support our life-saving work helping sick babies and children include getting involved on social media, displaying a poster or having a collecting box. If you have a little more time, then we have more interesting and rewarding roles. We value the time you are able to give and work collaboratively with you.

"A volunteer can be as involved as they like within their own time:
raising awareness for the charity could be as simple as putting up a poster in your place of work."

5. You will make a positive difference

With the help of its supporters and volunteers, Action Medical Research has been saving and changing children’s lives for 65 years. We have spent more than £115 million funding medical breakthroughs, including helping to introduce the first polio vaccines in the UK, discovering the importance of taking folic acid before and during pregnancy to prevent spina bifida, developing the use of ultrasound in pregnancy and testing the rubella vaccine.

"My sister and the beautiful baby boy she tragically lost have inspired me to
 continue volunteering to play my part in helping to raise awareness
and funds for crucial research and development to hopefully stop others
going through the same pain."
 

So, during this Student Volunteering Week, we are calling on all you wonderful students out there to get in touch and join team Action!

Join in. Have fun. Make a difference!

More information here...