Before you start delivering your Student-Led Project, please ensure that you read the points below to ensure that you comply with the requirements of the Student-Led Volunteering Programme and so that your Student-Led Project is covered by the Union’s insurance.

You must: -

  1. Attend our mandatory Project Leader Training . This training only needs to be completed by new Project Leaders.
  2. Complete a risk assessment before you undertake any project-related activity.  A new risk assessment needs to be completed each academic year and you are not permitted to start your project until this risk assessment has been approved.  Please read our guidance before completing your risk assessment.
  3. Partner only with not-for-profit, London-based organisations or schools.
  4. Recruit your project beneficiaries through your partner organisation (the school or organisation that your project will be working with) and all communication with your beneficiaries, outside of the volunteering sessions, must be done through staff from the organisation.  This is important to ensure that your project is adhering to our safeguarding guidelines .
  5. Recruit only current UCL students to volunteer with your project.
  6. Ensure that your volunteers are registered on your SLP Webpage .  If you already have a list of volunteers, please send this list along with the students’ full names and UCL email addresses to [email protected].  
  7. NOT use Google Docs or Google Drive to store personal information because they are not GDPR compliant.  You can use Microsoft Forms to collect information, which all UCL students have access to. 
  8. Complete the UCL Data Protection Training, which includes best practise on collecting and storing personal data.
  9. Send all email communication, regarding your project, from a UCL email address.  This can either be your personal UCL email address or a project UCL email address.  Each SLP can request a UCL project email address that they can use to communicate with their volunteers and partner organisations.  If you would like to request a UCL email address for your project, email [email protected].  Please note that you will need to have chosen a project name, and your project will also need to have an approved risk assessment, before a project email address can be requested.
  10. Copy your Project Supervisor into all email correspondence between your Project Leader Team and UCL departmental contacts or representatives from schools or external organisations.  This is important to ensure that we are kept updated on developments with your Student-Led Project.
  11. Submit an external speaker form if there will be any external speakers at your events (i.e., anyone who is not a UCL student or UCL staff).
  12. Ensure that your volunteers are not required to purchase any resources or pay any membership fees in order to volunteer with your Student-Led Project.  This includes the purchasing of any clothing that they are required to wear when volunteering.  We reimburse travel expenses for your volunteer’s journey’s that are completed within TfL Zones 1-6 and also all Student-Led Projects have the opportunity to apply for up to £500 of funding.

Remember there is lots of support available to help you plan and deliver your Student-Led Project.

If you have any questions about the information contained on this page, email [email protected].

Last updated 3 months ago Read time 2 mins