The Volunteering Service will pay travel expenses for UCL students volunteering with Student-Led Projects registered with the Student-Led Volunteering Programme. With prior agreement, we will also pay travel expenses for students volunteering with our registered community partners or for one-off events that we have promoted.
We will only reimburse travel expenses for activities that are included in the Student-Led Project’s approved risk assessment, so please check with your Project Leaders before completing any travel related to the project.
We will pay for bus, tube or standard class rail travel within Transport for London Zones 1 – 6. We will only pay for travel outside of Zone 6 in one–off, exceptional circumstances such as conference attendance. Expenses for taxi travel will not be reimbursed unless this has been included in the Student-Led Project’s approved budget. Speak to your Project Leaders if you are unsure.
Please note that we will only reimburse out-of-pocket travel expenses and will not reimburse weekly travelcards unless you are volunteering more than twice a week and it would cost less to complete your journeys using a weekly travelcard in comparison to using Oyster pay-as-you-go. Please contact the Student-Led Projects Team to obtain authorisation before purchasing a weekly travelcard.
You must obtain approval from the Project Leaders of your Student-Led Project before spending money on anything other than travel expenses.
TRAVEL EXPENSES
To claim travel expenses, you must ensure you provide us with proof of travel.
We strongly recommend that you create an Oyster/Contactless account on the TfL website. You can then register your Oyster or contactless card to view and download a record of your journey history. Please note that your journey history, on a registered Oyster or contactless card, can only be viewed up to eight weeks after travel.
If you’re using an Oyster Card that’s not registered, you can get a printout of your last 10 journeys via the ticket machines at any London Underground station.
If you’re buying a paper tube ticket make sure you get a VAT receipt – the ticket machines might retain your ticket. A debit/credit card receipt that just shows the amount spent is not sufficient.
We can not accept bank statements, debit/credit card receipts or receipts only showing that you have topped up your oyster card as proof of travel.
OTHER EXPENDITURE
Project Leaders of our Student-Led Projects can applied for funding of up to £500 to spend on their project.
You can only claim for other expenses, once the Volunteering Service has approved your budget. You must obtain approval from your Project Supervisor before spending money on items not included in your approved budget.
For small items of expenditure included in your approved budget, please obtain a VAT receipt, an itemised bill. This is needed for proof of purchase. Credit/debit card receipts, bank statements or invoices that do not specify whether a payment has been made are not valid and cannot be accepted.
For other larger items of expenditure, the Volunteering Service can make the purchase on your behalf and deduct the money from your budget allocation. Please provide us with all the details required to make the purchase (web addresses, item description, cost, contact numbers) along with two alternative quotes to show that this is the best value supplier, or provide an explanation why you’re unable to provide additional quotes.
Please ensure that you obtain proper proof of purchase and ask for a VAT receipt (itemised bill). A Credit/Debit card receipt will not be accepted.
CLAIMING EXPENSES
Once you’ve got your VAT receipt or proof of travel:
- Complete the Expenses Form and email it along with your receipts to [email protected].
- The deadline for submitting expenses is 12pm on Friday and reimbursement will take up to two weeks.
- We’ll put your claim in for processing. You’ll be paid via your bank account.
- Note that we can only reimburse money into your own UK bank account
PLEASE NOTE
Travel expenses will only be reimbursed if they are for activities that are included in the Student-Led Project’s approved risk assessment, so please check with your Project Leaders before completing any travel related to the project.
Expenses cannot be reimbursed unless a VAT receipt has been produced. Credit/debit card receipts, bank statements or invoices that do not specify whether a payment has been made are not valid and cannot be accepted.
Travel expenses cannot be reimbursed except where a valid receipt showing the journey has been obtained. An Oyster top-up receipt is not sufficient.
You can only view the journey history of a registered Oyster Card for up to 8 weeks after travel, so ensure that you submit your travel expenses regularly.
We will only reimburse out-of-pocket travel expenses and will not reimburse weekly travelcards unless you are volunteering more than twice a week. Please contact the Student-Led Projects Team to obtain authorisation before purchasing a weekly travelcard.
If you have any queries, please contact us at [email protected]