31% of students volunteer, says survey

At the start of Student Volunteering Week, the NUS has revealed that 31% of university students devote a significant proportion of their spare time to volunteering.

The newly published report, The Student Volunteering Landscape, estimates 725,000 students volunteer for an average of 44 hours per year.

Students aren’t just doing it to get a CV boost, either - 78% say that they give their time because of a desire to improve things or help people.

Developing skills for work was another key motivation cited for 66% of students.

There is also the feeling of being part of a community – and one particular success story in this case is that of St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle, which now has more than 1,400 volunteers.

St Oswald’s volunteer, International Business MA student Larissa Duarte, 24, says: “It’s the people that keep me coming back each time; the team and the customers. It was so cute when I came back from a month at home in Brazil over Christmas and the regular customers said to me that they’d wondered where I was and they were glad I was back! It’s lovely to feel part of something when I’m so far from home.”

Aside from personal reasons, and maybe surprisingly, students’ collective volunteering contributes the equivalent of a whopping £175 million to the UK economy.

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And where are students doing most of their voluntary work?

56% most want to use their time volunteering for a school, charity or educational organisation, according to the NUS.

Unfortunately though, 18% say they can’t afford to do any more volunteering than their current levels - but 40% said that they could be encouraged to do more if their universities could link it in some way to their course.

The report is published on Good Deed Day, a national day of over 60 student volunteering events to mark the start of Student Volunteering Week 2014 (SVW) – which runs from 24^th to 2^nd March.

Events this week will include Bucks Student Union's ‘Smile Campaign’, a Good Deed Tree at the University of Southampton and a mass planting of trees at Aston University.

The week is backed by Civil Society Minister Nick Hurd and London Mayor Boris Johnson, as well as and stars of The Inbetweeners and Fresh Meat.

Highlighting that communities and charities benefit from student volunteering, Karen Sparkes, Head of Volunteering at Barnardo’s, says: “Our student volunteers provide an essential service to the charity. Volunteering gives students the opportunity to develop skills, gain work experience and give something back to their community.”

Raechel Mattey, NUS Vice President, added that students “are contributing to their communities in a very positive way.”

So if you’re thinking of volunteering but haven’t made any firm plans yet, this might be a good time to start.

31% of students volunteer, says survey

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