Friday 27 July 2012

Mind drop in

Helped out again at the Mind drop in centre. Made cups of tea and chatted to service users. Then made some cards for service users birthdays. Looked after the child of one of the service users as it was the summer holidays, whilst the commitee had a meeting with the trustees.

Hours to date: 49.5

16.5 hours at Mind

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Mind - drop in.

Had my first Mind drop in experience. My role as a volunteer is to chat with service users, make cups of tea and sometimes do some activites.
Met some wonderful people with stories to share, but will not mention them by name here to maintain confidentiality. Did some art and crafts today and also played Magic with some of the service users.
Despite being initially nervous about this volunteering oppertunity, I feel as though I have made some new friends and look forward to next week!

Hours to date: 43

Monday 18 June 2012

Mind - volunteer meeting

Went into Mind today to talk to Andy about volunteering.
As Mind is a new charity, it's only just started up, so we were asked for ideas about the kinds of things we'd like to do. Ideas such as healthy eating, singing and drama were discussed, and we talked about ways to take this forward.
I was also offered the oppertunity to have regular, weekly volunteering.
Met some of the service users and they are all lovely.



Hours to date: 36.5

Saturday 26 May 2012

Health4All Open Day

Today I woke up bright and early and got myself into the University to help out on the Health4All stand at the University Open Day. I was running the stand by myself, and was handing out leaflets and other freebies to potential students and their parents, explaining about the Health4All support department, and the kind of things they do.
I feel this experience has improved my confidence and ability to talk to new people about health related issues, which will help me further my career path towards being a health psychologist.


Hours to date: 33

Monday 21 May 2012

Health 4 All

Met Mandy in Starbucks for a briefing about running the Health 4 all stall on open day.

Hours to date: 30

Thursday 17 May 2012

Invisible Injuries - First meeting

Had my first meeting with Andrew Lee from Invisible Injuires; a charity which supports people suffering from PTSD. Can't reveal too much about the main therapy I will be assisting with, but basically I'm being given quite alot of free reign to do some research. Also, I will get the oppertunity to train in some therapies such as hypnotherapy.
Very very excited about the main research.
Already began looking at journals.

Hours to date: 29.5

Monday 14 May 2012

Mind - First meeting

Today I went to Mind in Chester, to briefly speak to Andy about volunteering with them.
Filled in my form and had a chat about setting up an induction and getting stuck in. Starting off with drama and auditioning for One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.
Can't wait for this!

Hours to date: 28

Friday 4 May 2012

C.U.P.S Cake sale


I haven't mentioned this before, but I am now a commitee member of the Chester University Psychology Society (or CUPS), with the role of communications! Today, as part of the new team taking over from the third years, we held a cake sale to raise money for children with autism. I baked some gingerbread men, shortbread biscuits and fairycakes to add to our already huge pile of cakes! We then sold the cakes, with every penny going to charity.
With over £90 raised, our first charity event was a success.

Hours to date: 27.5

Monday 30 April 2012

Careers and employability (7)

Brief post from me again! Today I put up some new posters for careers, spreading the information about the great services they provide. Another sucessful volunteering day.

Hours to date: 26 hours

Friday 20 April 2012

Careers and employability (6)

A quick post about my volunteering today! Finished the filing for the graduate jobs survey, which was a great achievement.


Hours to date: 24

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Applicant day - Student ambassador.

Today was a university applicant day, where potential students come to visit the university to get a feel for the place and their possible course choices. I offered to help show people around the campus, and share my own personal experiences of the university life! My first job was to guide people in the direction of the sports hall for registration. Standing out in the cold is not alot of fun, but I like to think that my smile welcome the prospective students and their families into the uni!
After the quick registration talk I took the Law and Religious Studies students to their talks about their subjects. Then I went to Astberry House, one of the universtity accomodation buildings on campus. My job was to give the families a tour around a student bedroom, the kitchen area and the common room. Despite living off campus myself, I had a lot of knowledge to share about the general feel of the university and the experiences of my friends who live on campus.

This experience was great as I love my university, and wanted to share that passion with others.
Also, I recieved £25 of tesco vouchers for this volunteering, which was a nice, unexpected suprise!
I would definately recommend this volunteering experience.


Hours to date: 22

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Careers and employability (5)

Another quick post about careers and employability!
Chris, who normally supervises my volunteering, was off today. So I was filing independently. Another great admin experience that will be a useful skill for the future.

Hours to date: 17

Friday 30 March 2012

Careers and employability (4)

Just checking in with another quick post about careers and employability volunteering. Today I took down the older posters, and replaced them with new posters of the latest information from careers.

Hours to date: 15

Friday 16 March 2012

Careers and employability (3)

Another careers and employability volunteering day today! Pretty much the same as last week. Put up some new posters around the campus, then completed some more of the filing.

Hours to date: 13

Friday 9 March 2012

Careers and employability (2)

This was my second time volunteering for careers and employability. Today I helped to put up posters around the university, advertising the services careers provide! I've learnt alot about what they can offer students in enhance their employability. Then I alphabatised forms for filing next time. Not glamourous, but lending a helping hand always feels good.

Hours to date: 11

Friday 2 March 2012

Careers and employability (1)

Today I started volunteering for careers and employability. Initially they were just looking for someone to help with a day of filing. However, they offered me the oppertunity to have long term volunteering for them, doing various admin work. I believe this will give me important skills that can applied to lots of potential future careers. Also, it feels great to give back to the university in any way possible.

Firsty I recieved my careers and employability badge, and was introduced to the team. My tasks for today involved filing and inputing data into a spreadsheet regarding graduate job situations.

I will continue to post about these volunteering experiences, although the descriptions may be a bit brief!!

Hours to date: 9

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Canal Project - Litter pick


This was my first (official) voluteering experience.I'm very passionate about being as eco-friendly as possible, so when I heard about the canal project I wanted to get involved. I think it's really important to give something back to the environment and preserve it for future generations.
After meeting in the office with the other eager volunteers, we met with Dave from British Waterways who explained the areas we'd be focusing on. After we got our tools we got stuck straight in! Litter picking was weirdly theraputic, and it was great to talk to the other volunteers who were super friendly (especially when fueled with Ribena and biscuits!).
The best aspect of this volunteering was the feedback recieved from the general public. People who were walking their dogs down the canal or having a run gave us so much praise, thanking us for giving back to the community. I felt really proud to be a student at the university, and it just goes to show that not all students have the bad reputation we are so often given

Can't wait for the next canal project.

Hours to date: 6