C&SW Conference 2017 Volunteering and student Engagement

1. Bristol Hub is a branch of Student Hubs, a registered charity in England and Wales, number 1122328.
Sustainability
Strategic
partners:
Student Engagement:
tackling social isolation amongst older people
Josephine Harwood – Bristol Hub

2. An Introduction to Bristol Hub
Now
Last year Bristol Hub
supported over 230
students to volunteer in
37 community projects
with over 1000
beneficiaries as well as
coordinating 28 events
with 1075 attendees.
Today it makes up one
part of a national charity
called Student Hubs,
which originated in
Oxford.
Then
Bristol Hub was started
by a group of students in
2008, aiming to connect
like-minded students
and provide
opportunities to take
action on a range of
social and environmental
issues.

3. Our Theory of Change

4. What is LinkAges?
o This has been our pilot year in Bristol
o Volunteers visit St Monica Trust’s Cote
Lane retirement village, and have taken
part in a variety of activities with
residents
o Next year the project will expand into
new care homes, and will be run by a
student committee with the support of
Bristol Hub staff
LinkAges is a volunteering projects that aims
to reduce loneliness amongst socially isolated
older people.

5. o Who?
– University of Bristol Students
o Why?
– Students are an invaluable pool of potential
volunteers
– Double benefit: both students and communities
can gain a lot from student volunteering
Community Engagement
I think the concept of bringing these two
bubbles together – with the students in their
bubble and the residents in theirs – has
worked really well.
- Wendy Hodsdon
(Volunteer Coordinator at St Monica Trust)

6. o Diversity of opportunities, including
a strong element of choice for both
older people and volunteers
o We focus on a specific group of
volunteers within a community, so
engagement can be targeted
o We understand why our students
want to volunteer
o We use a variety of recruitment
strategies, from marketing to taster
sessions
What has worked well?

7. o We have specific recruitment periods
o Volunteer numbers drop off at busy
times of the academic year
o We need to engage more students
with the issues facing older people as
it becomes less of a ‘trend’ in the
media
o We want to engage a wider variety of
students
o Competition
What barriers have we
faced?

8. Future plans for engagement
o Recruit as early as possible
o Raise awareness through
engagement events
o Give volunteers more responsibility
– ownership improves reliability
o Resource and training development,
so volunteers are as comfortable
and prepared as possible when
entering a care environment

9. Get in touch!
josephine.harwood@bristolhub.org
www.bristolhub.org/linkages

10. Get in touch!
josephine.harwood@bristolhub.org
www.bristolhub.org/linkages