Job opportunities:

Vteam Support Worker
£5.52 per hour 
8 hours per week (plus the possibility of some additional hours outside of term time)


Do you have excellent IT, Communication and Organisational skills plus an interest in volunteering?  Then you could be just the person to provide administrative support in the Vteam office.  Full training and support provided. For further details and an application form please see below

Closing date:February 15th
Interview: February 20th

Application Form
Job Description

The Bulletin

I hope you all had a good Christmas break and that you are now looking forward to a great new term.  This Bulletin tells you about some of the exciting new opportunities (other opportunities can be found here) that you can get involved with.  When you see something that you’re interested in just email us: vteam@essex.ac.uk or come up to the Vteam office in the SU.

Students Volunteering week is coming February 25th – 29th.  This is a national initiative that aims to encourage more students to get involved and celebrate all the great work that you do.  The V-Team is going to be running lots of special activities during this week (watch for details on SU website).  More information to come soon, but if you have any ideas please contact us.

New project

•    We have been asked to set up a Virtual Volunteering project with the local community.  We will therefore be going into partnership with St Helena Hospice to do a virtual time capsule project called “Memory Box – capturing a moment in time”. The idea is to put patients’ memories on a webpage.  This is a project that could be done as a group.  I will be holding a meeting about this 1pm Thursday 24th January so if you are interested in being involved or just want to find out more then contact the vteam office.

General opportunities

•    Greenstead Community Centre would like some male students to help with their Youth Café on Thursday and Fridays 5.00 – 7.00pm
•    Hythe Community Centre would also like Youth Club volunteers.  They would also like any students who have an unusual hobby etc that would like to go and do a demonstration at the youth clubs.  This could be anything from music, cultural dancing etc and could be done on a one off basis.
•    The April Centre, a homeless charity in Colchester is looking to recruit more volunteers to help out at the drop in centre and possibly in other positions.
•    Minibus drivers: the Vteam is looking for volunteers to take a very simple minibus test, and then drive the minibus.  This is vital for the Vteam as it enables volunteers to get to projects and means that we can take people to do things like fun trips to the seaside!  If you are over 21, have held a driving license for 3 years, and have held a full UK driving license for 1 year, please get in contact
•    Evergreens this pensioners club at Greenstead need a volunteer to help them with their luncheon club on Wednesday between 11am and 2.30pm
•    Essex County Libraries are looking for volunteers to deliver books and other items to individuals in their own homes, sheltered housing and residential homes.
•    Colchester & District Cat Rescue & Homing Society are looking for help in their charity shop in Wivenhoe and also to help with fundraising
•    Colchester Credit Union are looking for a volunteer to assist their Treasurer to maintain their group accounts.
•    Envision want student volunteers (over 21) to support a team of sixth form students to implement social and environmental projects in their schools and local communities.

Sports Opportunities

•    The University of Essex Badminton club are looking for a volunteer coordinator to help coordinate regular volunteering events with a local Youth Club etc
•    Youth Sports Trust will be running their TOP Links scheme.  This scheme enables you to train secondary school students to organise and run sports days.  The students that you train will then have the skills to deliver school sports days for their partner primary schools.  This promotes links between schools, builds communities and gets young people active and engaged in sport.
•    NACRO is a leading crime reduction charity and they are running a new sports project for volunteers to get involved in.  There are two opportunities one of  which would be to coach/mentor young people from a deprived and disadvantage background in a practical and physical sports coaching role.  The other opportunity is to help with event management, advertising, promotion, networking etc of a community sports project to be launched in February.
•    Stanway Rovers Youth Football Club are currently looking for student volunteers to help run their teams.  If you are interested in football, or have had some previous playing experience, or if you are a qualified football coach and want to work with kids then this is the opportunity for you!  They are looking for coaches, managers, secretaries etc.

Environmental/Conservation Opportunities

•    The National Trust have various local conservation opportunities that students could get involved with.
•    BTCV have also have various conservation volunteering opportunities including tree felling, coppicing, pond and scrub management.  If you fancy some fresh air in the open with like minded people then this is the volunteering for you!
•    The Moors Movement need help with tree planting and habitat improvement tasks.

Please note that the Vteam have an expenses policy which means that no student should be out of pocket.  I must stress however that these should be reasonable expenses and must be claimed within two months of having been incurred.

And Finally

Student Volunteering England Conference 7th – 9th March: This is the only event of its kind and is an excellent opportunity to join student volunteers and workers from around 60 different universities and colleges across the country who meet up for a weekend of workshops related to volunteering issues, networking and of course lots of fun (including a Gala fancy dress dinner on the Saturday night).  This year it is being held at Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre, Staffordshire.  This is a great thing to be part of and if you are interested in going please get in touch and give reasons why you think you deserve a place.  Remember places are limited.

Dates for your diary     2008

25th February – 2nd March – Student Volunteering Week – an annual nationwide event