Equal Opportunities

By Jonathon Blott

Equal Opportunities is a fantastic team within Hallam Volunteering whose main goal is to make sure that everyone is represented in the University’s voluntary schemes in some way.
They organised a tea party to raise awareness of Hallam Volunteering and give everyone a chance to take part in what Hallam Volunteering has to offer. The party provided students with a second chance for people to get involved, particularly those who may not yet have heard of all of Hallam Volunteering. The main groups of people targeted for recruitment at the event were mature students, international students, and students with disabilities. These particular groups of students are currently considered under-represented within Hallam Volunteering.

The Equal Opportunities team hopes to open up new doors to volunteering, which not only helps the community but also drastically enhances your CV, strengthening your chances of that all-important keyword, ‘employability’. Underrepresented groups like mature students are quite often considered a great asset to voluntary programs for their own personal experience that they bring to the group.
Hallam Volunteering’s Equal Opportunities Officer Ria Stevens said “More publicity is needed for the projects to spark a keen interest in volunteering. But with student support now an active part of the team, that is exactly what we hope to achieve.”

There was a friendly turn-out of eager students, and more importantly students that Hallam Volunteering were looking for. All in all, the party was a success, with a plenty of new students signing up for projects, particularly from target groups. If you missed the party or would just like more information on the projects, Equal Opportunities are holding another event on February 26th 4-5.30pm upstairs in the HUBS, and you can contact Hallam Volunteering on 2255005, hallamvolunteering@shu.ac.uk or visit the website, http://hallamunion.org/volunteering.