The Volunteering Service helps UCL students get involved in good-quality volunteering opportunities within London’s communities. In doing so, we aim to give students a chance to positively engage with the wider world, to develop new skills and improve their employability. We seek out opportunities within volunteering organisations, promote one-off volunteering, and support students to run their own community projects through our Student-led Volunteering Programme or to work within a community-university research partnership on their dissertation. We also provide training sessions to support students in their volunteering.

We check all organisations we refer volunteers to, and will only work with not-for-profit organisations with charitable purposes. We will not work with organisations who do not provide adequate support or safeguards for volunteers.

What you can expect from us:

  • We treat all members and visitors with respect and courtesy at all times.
  • We speak clearly and courteously on the telephone and will always provide our name during the conversation.
  • We aim to reply to emails within three working days. If a query cannot be resolved or answered immediately, we will acknowledge the email and inform you when you can expect a full response.
  • We aim to ensure that our webpages are kept up-to-date.
  • We can make confidential virtual meeting spaces available to meet you if required.
  • We ensure that you have opportunities to influence our work through our advisory group (Volunteering Service Think Tank), UCL Volunteering Society, through your elected Union officers, and through surveys and focus groups. In addition, if you've got an idea about how we can do things better, simply get in touch - we promise we'll listen and respond.
  • We follow up all enquiries from students to see if any further help is required.
  • We provide a supervisor for all Project Leaders registered with our Student-led Volunteering Programme.
  • We will send you a weekly opportunities update if you sign up to our mailing list.
  • We will provide Project Leader Training to students running a Student-Led Project.
  • We will help Postgraduate (Taught) students find partners for collaborative research projects within the voluntary and community sector.

Comments and Complaints

The Volunteering Service is committed to maintaining a high standard of service for our members. By setting these standards we can monitor our performance and improve the delivery of our service. If you would like to feedback on our service please get in touch. If you feel that we have not met these standards on any occasion, please let us know or, if you prefer, make use of Students' Union UCL's complaints procedure.

Service Standards for recruiters

We're selective about which organisations we'll work with. You can find out more on our Info for Recruiters page.

Volunteering Service Operational Policies & Procedures

If you'd like to know more about how we work, feel free to download our Policies and Procedures

 

Last updated: September 2020

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