VOLUNTEERING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

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Junior Year Abroad students often ask about volunteering opportunities while in the UK. Technically a work permit is required for any job, paid or unpaid. Volunteer work could come under this heading. However, there are some opportunities for students to get involved in community activities in different ways. An online version of the office's list of common volunteering activities can be found below.

1. Check with the Students Union in your hosting university. They are likely to have contacts for social service activities and societies of all varieties. These groups rarely have dedicated websites are so are not all included in the online list, though they represent some of the easier ways for students to get involved.

2. See whether your university has a mentoring programme with local schools (in London we know that both UCL and LSE do). Through these schemes, students are placed in local schools and work with (often) disadvantaged kids, helping them with schoolwork.

3. Find out about volunteering opportunities through your local "volunteer bureau." Most local councils in London and elsewhere in the UK have them, and they are the focal point for holding details of organizations needing volunteer assistance.

4. There are often seasonal volunteering opportunities during the winter months (e.g. Crisis at Christmas) or during fundraising activities.

5. The Guardian newspaper gives a listing of organizations looking for volunteers; it is included in the Wednesday "Society" section, once a month.

6. Use the university alumni clubs in the UK or the Cornell-Brown-Penn Centre to see if they can help identify contacts.

7. Take a look at these websites specifically for students who wish to volunteer: For students in England, www.studentvolunteering.co.uk, and for students in Scotland, www.studentvolscotland.org.uk.

Please note that there are background checks made into anyone wanting to work with vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly. References are taken up and so some organizations (e.g. hospitals) are unlikely to be able to offer volunteer places to students who are in the UK for less than six months.

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