Making a real difference in Sheffield has never been easier! Hallam Challenges is a project that plans one-day events where both students and staff can get involved to help out in the local community.
One of the latest successes for Hallam Challenges was the Christmas Decorations Creation Day which was held on Level 2 of the Owen Building, City Campus.
Over 50 students dropped by to lend a hand and make a decoration for the elderly. Later the decorations were taken out to residential homes around Sheffield where even the residents helped make some more, whilst enjoying a few mince pies after decorating the rooms.
Project leader Ellie Lane was very pleased with the high level of enthusiasm and commitment from her team and is aiming to bring even more people together for a positive impact at their next event.
The next Hallam Challenge is going to be on Saturday 28th March, 11am till 1pm at Creswick Children's Centre. The team need volunteers to come and help plant primroses as the centre are having a total refurbishment and changing their name to Primrose Children's Centre. If you would like to come and help please email hallamchallenges@hotmail.co.uk and let us know you are coming!
If you'd like to know more on Hallam Challenges or for information on how to get involved, drop by the Hubs and speak to Emily Burns onE.burns@shu.ac.uk. Also Ellie would like to give a shout out and personal thank you to Emily, who has been her rock!
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Football Unites! - by Mark Copping
Bobby Charlton, David Beckham, Alan Shearer: all great ambassadors of the beautiful game. Now added to that list is the work of the 'Football Unites' team. The work of the project is implied in the title - meeting up with refugees and asylum seekers in the Sheffield area and using football to unite their different communities. Students and refugees work together in promoting communication, support and an understanding and at the end of it all, friendly rivalries are made in the big football tournament happening on the 25th April, where both students and refugees play in mixed teams for the trophy. Project leader Lee Dunne describes it as a place 'to have a good chat, and make some new friends' and of course, its all for a worthy cause, that’s 1-0 to Hallam Volunteering!
Fit Club - by Mark Rhodes
Every Wednesday afternoon, several members from the Fit Club project go to the Guildford Grange Residential Home to work with the elderly residents and give them a weekly activity and exercise session that aims to help increase fitness and mobility.
The activities vary each week, and range from walks around beauty spots within Sheffield to playing fun games such as bowling & skittles. Rosie Wynne and Kim Horspool, joint project leaders of Fit Club, say that the project helps to: "Increase fitness, mobility and flexibility of the residents by running interactive, fun sessions for the residents." A favourite activity amongst the elderly residents is using a parachute; this was a personal favourite of mine when doing PE at Primary school, so I wasn't at all surprised to learn that the residents of Guildford Grange Residential home enjoy it too.
The project leaders also added that the Fit Club project gives students that are studying physiotherapy a fantastic opportunity to gain experience, as well as have fun interacting with the residents.
Some of the activities lined up for the residents in the coming weeks include parachute games and taking the residents for a walk around the picturesque Botanical Gardens, which I am sure they will enjoy.
The activities vary each week, and range from walks around beauty spots within Sheffield to playing fun games such as bowling & skittles. Rosie Wynne and Kim Horspool, joint project leaders of Fit Club, say that the project helps to: "Increase fitness, mobility and flexibility of the residents by running interactive, fun sessions for the residents." A favourite activity amongst the elderly residents is using a parachute; this was a personal favourite of mine when doing PE at Primary school, so I wasn't at all surprised to learn that the residents of Guildford Grange Residential home enjoy it too.
The project leaders also added that the Fit Club project gives students that are studying physiotherapy a fantastic opportunity to gain experience, as well as have fun interacting with the residents.
Some of the activities lined up for the residents in the coming weeks include parachute games and taking the residents for a walk around the picturesque Botanical Gardens, which I am sure they will enjoy.
Educ8 - by Liz Sloan
Educ8 is a one of Hallam Volunteering's five new projects this year. The project focuses on empowering children to make informed decisions by giving them the opportunity to learn about substances such as tobacco, alcohol and solvents in a safe environment.
Stefanie Chadburn, Educ8’s Project Leader said “I firmly believe that Educ8 is a great project which tackles a subject area which needs to be addressed in schools and I know my excellent team of volunteers are going to tackle it brilliantly”.
Educ8 has partnered with SHED, which is a local organisation offering support to young people in Sheffield in relation to substance misuse. SHED has provided an eight week training programme to six of the student volunteers to give them the confidence in delivering advice to school children in year six.
Altogether there are five one hour sessions that began on the 26th February and will run up until March. The sessions are flexible and fun, incorporating games and quizzes to encourage the children to learn. One of the activities that will take place towards the end of the project will be “the big drugs quiz.”
This will test the children to see what they have learnt over 5 weeks. All of the activities are kept simple and enjoyable but require skilful handling by the volunteers as the topic of drugs can be a difficult and complex one to explore and talk about.
The children are offered helpful information and guidance in an area that is sometimes ignored in today’s society and with children becoming more exposed to the danger of drugs and alcohol it makes a great difference when projects such as EDUC8 are there to make sure they have the correct information . As Stefanie says “They then have the confidence in themselves to say no and make informed decisions based around fact and not fiction.”
Stefanie Chadburn, Educ8’s Project Leader said “I firmly believe that Educ8 is a great project which tackles a subject area which needs to be addressed in schools and I know my excellent team of volunteers are going to tackle it brilliantly”.
Educ8 has partnered with SHED, which is a local organisation offering support to young people in Sheffield in relation to substance misuse. SHED has provided an eight week training programme to six of the student volunteers to give them the confidence in delivering advice to school children in year six.
Altogether there are five one hour sessions that began on the 26th February and will run up until March. The sessions are flexible and fun, incorporating games and quizzes to encourage the children to learn. One of the activities that will take place towards the end of the project will be “the big drugs quiz.”
This will test the children to see what they have learnt over 5 weeks. All of the activities are kept simple and enjoyable but require skilful handling by the volunteers as the topic of drugs can be a difficult and complex one to explore and talk about.
The children are offered helpful information and guidance in an area that is sometimes ignored in today’s society and with children becoming more exposed to the danger of drugs and alcohol it makes a great difference when projects such as EDUC8 are there to make sure they have the correct information . As Stefanie says “They then have the confidence in themselves to say no and make informed decisions based around fact and not fiction.”
Smiling like a Cheshire Cat – by Rik Measures
On their return from the winter holidays, the volunteers of the Cheshire Cats project hit the ground running with a string of fun-filled sessions held for the residents of Leonard Cheshire Homes in Totley.
The Hallam Volunteers, led by project leaders Gemma Fisher and Sophie Green, cram their weekly visits with creative art and craft activities which engage and entertain the residents.
The activities range from making colourful band instruments out of cereal boxes, to cookery, and offer the residents a great opportunity to vary their daily routine which, due to their circumstances, is often restricted.
The residents, all of whom are adults with varying degrees of learning and physical disabilities, draw a huge amount of pleasure from the visiting volunteers and the activities they bring with them – this much is obvious from all their smiles and laughter throughout the sessions. The interaction between the residents and the volunteers is a great one to see. It’s clear they enjoy one another’s company, and it’s even clearer that all the hard work the volunteers put into fundraising and organising the project, not to mention actually running the sessions, is extremely beneficial to the residents.
“Putting a smile on someone else’s face is brilliant,” says Gemma “When we go to the home we feel happy knowing that we’re giving something back. Being a member of Cheshire Cats is an excellent experience and a valuable insight into the lives of those who suffer from disabilities.”
The care home is part of a wider network called Leonard Cheshire Disability whose larger purpose is to change attitudes towards disability, as well as to provide services in support of disabled people. The contribution Cheshire Cats is making to achieve this goal is not only impressive, but is also a great example of what Hallam Volunteering is capable of.
Keep up the great work everyone!
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Commitee Elections 2009/2010
The Hallam Volunteering Standing Committee Elections for 2009-2010 are fast approaching and now is the time to think about running. Being a part of the Hallam Volunteering Committee is a great opportunity to influence Hallam Volunteering as a department and to represent volunteers. You will develop new skills and improve your career prospects.
For more information or to nominate yourself, download the nomination form and the Committee information pack from blackboard (select "elections" from the button down on the left side of the page) or our website (http://hallamunion.org/volunteering/committee-elections/).
For more information or to nominate yourself, download the nomination form and the Committee information pack from blackboard (select "elections" from the button down on the left side of the page) or our website (http://hallamunion.org/volunteering/committee-elections/).
- Positions available are:
- Publicity Officer
- Fundraising Officer
- Events & Technical Officer
- Communications & Socials Officer
- Equal Opportunities Officer
- Showcase Officer
- 1 Working with Children Project Representative
- 1 Working with Young People Project Representative
- 1 Working with Adults Project Representative
Feel Free to ask any current Officer or Rep about the role, all will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Nominations are open from 9am on Tuesday 3rd March until midnight on Wednesday 11th March. Any volunteer can nominate themself.
Look out for voting from 13th-22nd March!
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
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.
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.
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