Opportunities for Staff

The City Volunteering online database is open to staff as well as students and contains information about opportunities to volunteer for local and national organisations. You can search the site or register in order to apply to an organisation or be kept up to date on activities that match your interests.

 

Below are some current volunteering opportunities we would like to highlight to staff.

Lunchtime Primary School Reading schemes

As providers of Higher Education within the borough of Islington, we wish to support learning from an early age. Some children do not have the opportunity to read at home. Establishing a love of reading from an early age can help children to develop their own understanding of the world. As a member of staff at City University London, you can help contribute to this process.

We currently offer reading schemes with one local primary school - Hugh Myddelton Primary School and St. Luke's Primary School.

Both schemes are well established and aim to support children's literacy. Reading volunteers visit the school once a week, for thirty minutes over lunchtime to read one-to-one with a partner child. There are some slight differences on the timings, so please be sure that you can make a regular commitment each week.

Reading Times   

Hugh Myddelton

KS 2 (Juniors) read before lunch : 12.00pm - 12.30pm

KS 1 (Infants) read after lunch : 1.30pm - 2.00pm

St. Luke's

NOT ABLE TO OFFER ANY NEW PLACES THIS ACADEMIC YEAR

 

With both schemes you meet the same child each week, helping to develop a relationship over time which will support the child's love of reading. We ask volunteers to commit to supporting a child once a week for at least one school term, although the most successful reading relationships are those that last for a full school year or more. 

Read this interview to learn how St. Luke's Primary School has benefitted from City University London's reading volunteers...

 

How to Apply

  1. Read this role description and decide whether you'd like to get involved.
  2. Get in touch with Ben Butler at City Volunteering (x8992), specifying what time suits you best / which age group you would prefer to work with.
  3. You will also need to complete a CRB check. City Volunteering will send you the form and some information on the process. It is your responsibility to return it to City Volunteering in person with the relevant identification documents so that we can process the completed form.
  4. Visit the school for an induction.

Upcoming induction dates

Hugh Myddelton

September 9, 2009

12.30pm - 1.00pm

 

September 10, 2009

5.00pm - 5.30pm

 


 

The EC1 Mentoring Project

Do you have skills in decision-making that you could share with residents? The EC1 Mentoring Project exists to support, guide and motivate local people, so they are empowered to play a more active role in decision making in the EC1 area.

The Islington Voluntary Action Council and EC1 New Deal have realised that, when many time-limited regeneration projects come to an end, there is no local infrastructure to continue to support decision-making activities and services that engage local people with shaping the place where they live. This mentoring project - together with a capacity building project - has been developed to ensure active participation and high levels of engagement of individuals and organisations in the local community after the EC1 New Deal programme has come to an end.

As a mentor, your main responsibility is to help empower your mentee(s) so they can overcome barriers to participation and be able to influence decision making, thereby contributing to the EC1 Community. IVAC provides support, training and orientation for mentors to help you adjust quickly into the mentoring role.

If you are interested in joining this scheme as a mentor, or have any further questions, get in touch with City Volunteering, or ext 8992.

INSPIRATION

If you're not sure about what you'd like to volunteer for or are lacking ideas for your organisation, our inspiration section is for you. We've come up with lots of ideas to help our users to get more from their volunteering experience. Find out more!