We started off the 2019-20 academic year with a bang, hosting our series of Welcome volunteering fairs, designed for you to meet our lovely charity partners face-to-face and sign up to their volunteering opportunities. We live by the motto “go big or go home”, so that’s why we held our mammoth of a fair at the beginning of October - our Charity Campus Takeover!
The takeover spanned from the South Cloisters to the Main Quad over two days, with over a hundred charities heading on over to UCL to meet prospective volunteers. Over 1500 of you signed up to our charities over the two days, which was pretty amazing if you ask us!
With lots of charities, and lots more bunting, it definitely was an event we couldn’t forget!
Volunteering opportunities are diverse, and we love emphasising this aspect by holding our smaller specialist fairs for those who want to meet charities from specific sectors. Starting off with our Tutoring and Mentoring fair was a great chance for people who wanted to teach, inspire or mentor to find some amazing organisations to volunteer with.
Our Mental Health and Befriending fair followed – for those who love caring for others, this was a great way to find communities where your support would be much-needed!
Despite the torrential rain, that didn’t stop our students from coming down to our Health and Medicine fair and chatting to the charities. Whether students were actively searching for health-related roles, or just wanting to try something new, this fair was definitely a big hit with our students.
And of course, we can’t hold our volunteering fairs without including our Museums and Heritage fair! Art, culture and history fans definitely had a blast at this event, which marked the end of our volunteering fairs for 2019.
Although fairs aren't the only way to start your volunteering journey, they're a great way for you to really get a feel for a charity and the roles they offer. They're also the best way to get involved in an opportunity you never thought you would be interested in!
We’ve kept you well-fed with our volunteering fairs this Welcome period, but if you’re still on the look-out for your perfect volunteering role, hop on over to our directory! It’s got all the latest roles from our charity partners, including those who attended our fairs. If you’re still hesitant about taking that first step to volunteer, check out our Students’ Stories where you can read what your fellow UCL volunteers have done through our service.
And because there’s no such thing as too many volunteering fairs, we’re in the process of planning our New Year Fair in January so you can start 2020 off on a high note! If your New Year resolution is to try something new, volunteering might be right up your alley.