Our students and staff volunteer all over Kent and Medway and across the UK, offering invaluable support to the wider community, bringing fresh ideas and expertise into local organisations, and creating lasting connections across the region.
Our volunteering team work with the local community to secure ongoing opportunities with not-for-profit and charitable organisations, including work-based learning, student projects, and work placements to support organisations and curricular learning. Through this, students gain skills and experience and have the chance to work for a cause they believe in, producing new generations of engaged, socially responsible graduates.
We believe volunteering has a profoundly positive impact on our lives and the lives of others around us, and we support and encourage our community to realise their potential through volunteering.
6000 student volunteer hours logged each year on average
100 active volunteer opportunities
39 different local, regional, and national organisations to volunteer with
Case study
Supporting local vulnerable people
A group of our Mental Health Nursing and Midwifery students created their own volunteer scheme to support the vulnerable during the Covid-19 lockdown, offering a free check-in and chat service.
BSc Mental Health Nursing students Alex Richardson, Georgie Savage, Ellie Scott, Shari Dawkins, and Shyline Mbeve, and Midwifery student Grace Scott, set up the free chat service, initially focusing on elderly customers of Alex’s mum’s gardening business in Whitstable.
Alex said: “I knew there was a way my course mates and I could help. We have some experience, and we love caring for people, so I put two and two together. We set up a buddy scheme, we check in with people weekly and make sure they are OK. If there are any issues where someone is at risk or suffering, it is fed back and we support or signpost where necessary.”
The students received feedback from customers remarking on the difference the initiative has made to members of the local community, who have said they really value speaking to the "nurses of tomorrow".
Alex received investor backing to expand this into a talking therapy service called Keep Talking, which aimed to help support people who are struggling with mental health issues and placed in residential care.
Alex said: "The reason Keep Talking Services was started was because I couldn’t sit back and watch loneliness cripple our community. I want this to be a national scheme, and I believe with the people I have around me invested in my project, one day we will achieve that."