2000 - today
2000s
The decade saw significant government investment in the student volunteering sector through the Higher Education Active Communities Fund, which in 2002 made £27 million available to UK higher education institutions to promote student volunteering between. It has been estimated that this funding enabled almost 14,000 new volunteering opportunities to be created across the higher education sector. There was a clear shift away from students accessing volunteering mainly through SCA groups to a much broader platform of opportunities. Though many students in the 2000s continued to be involved in student-led, group-based activities, they were also to find individual volunteer placements through a university employability unit, through a student union volunteer unit or as part of an academic module. The internet also enabled students to access volunteering through www.do-it.org or directly with volunteer-involving organisations.
Rag fundraising activities continued to involve many students and raise large sums of money for a range of causes. In 2009 Scottish students formed a Scottish Rag Network to promote networking between members of rag groups and other student societies with charitable aims at different universities.
The HEACF investment also created hundreds of paid volunteer coordinators who formed a network known as Workers in Student Community Volunteering (WiSCV). However, the third round of funding from HEACF, announced in 2006, channelled £15 million into the ‘Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund’ meaning money was no longer to be ring fenced for student volunteering projects.
There were also changes to the infrastructure to support student volunteering. In 2000, the National Centre for Student Volunteering was renamed ‘Student Volunteering UK’. The first national 'Student Community Action Week’ was launched in 2001 to coincide with the UN International Year of the Volunteer. Due to changes brought about by devolution Student Volunteering UK became known as Student Volunteering England and Student Volunteering Scotland was established in 2002. In 2004 Student Volunteering England launched an award scheme to recognise students’ achievements, called the Student Volunteering Gold Awards. In 2007 Student Volunteering England merged with Volunteering England, the national volunteering development agency for England, and the staff team moved to Volunteering England’s offices from their home in former university settlement Oxford House. The student volunteering team continue to organise events such as Student Volunteering week each February and an annual student volunteering conference in March.
Other changes in the student volunteering infrastructure in the decade included the launch of a new network of ‘Student Hubs’. To date there are Hubs at four Russell group universities: Oxford, Cambridge, Southampton and Bristol. Each hub aims to be a
focal point for all charitable, volunteering and campaigning activity within the university and to work with others in the network. The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement’s Student Volunteering Initiative, funded by youth volunteering charity v, was set up in 2009 to provide evidence of the impacts of volunteering on students, communities and institutions.
2010s
The 2000s were period of remarkable growth in student volunteering, with substantial resources committed to supporting new initiatives and create staff posts. However, with funding from HEFCE largely disappearing, as well as reduced prospects for fundraising during the recession, it is unclear how much of this momentum will be maintained in the new decade. Faced with such challenges, there is a now a strong need to explore the movement’s history, reassess its priorities and reaffirm its importance.
The decade saw significant government investment in the student volunteering sector through the Higher Education Active Communities Fund, which in 2002 made £27 million available to UK higher education institutions to promote student volunteering between. It has been estimated that this funding enabled almost 14,000 new volunteering opportunities to be created across the higher education sector. There was a clear shift away from students accessing volunteering mainly through SCA groups to a much broader platform of opportunities. Though many students in the 2000s continued to be involved in student-led, group-based activities, they were also to find individual volunteer placements through a university employability unit, through a student union volunteer unit or as part of an academic module. The internet also enabled students to access volunteering through www.do-it.org or directly with volunteer-involving organisations.
Rag fundraising activities continued to involve many students and raise large sums of money for a range of causes. In 2009 Scottish students formed a Scottish Rag Network to promote networking between members of rag groups and other student societies with charitable aims at different universities.
The HEACF investment also created hundreds of paid volunteer coordinators who formed a network known as Workers in Student Community Volunteering (WiSCV). However, the third round of funding from HEACF, announced in 2006, channelled £15 million into the ‘Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund’ meaning money was no longer to be ring fenced for student volunteering projects.
There were also changes to the infrastructure to support student volunteering. In 2000, the National Centre for Student Volunteering was renamed ‘Student Volunteering UK’. The first national 'Student Community Action Week’ was launched in 2001 to coincide with the UN International Year of the Volunteer. Due to changes brought about by devolution Student Volunteering UK became known as Student Volunteering England and Student Volunteering Scotland was established in 2002. In 2004 Student Volunteering England launched an award scheme to recognise students’ achievements, called the Student Volunteering Gold Awards. In 2007 Student Volunteering England merged with Volunteering England, the national volunteering development agency for England, and the staff team moved to Volunteering England’s offices from their home in former university settlement Oxford House. The student volunteering team continue to organise events such as Student Volunteering week each February and an annual student volunteering conference in March.
Other changes in the student volunteering infrastructure in the decade included the launch of a new network of ‘Student Hubs’. To date there are Hubs at four Russell group universities: Oxford, Cambridge, Southampton and Bristol. Each hub aims to be a
focal point for all charitable, volunteering and campaigning activity within the university and to work with others in the network. The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement’s Student Volunteering Initiative, funded by youth volunteering charity v, was set up in 2009 to provide evidence of the impacts of volunteering on students, communities and institutions.
2010s
The 2000s were period of remarkable growth in student volunteering, with substantial resources committed to supporting new initiatives and create staff posts. However, with funding from HEFCE largely disappearing, as well as reduced prospects for fundraising during the recession, it is unclear how much of this momentum will be maintained in the new decade. Faced with such challenges, there is a now a strong need to explore the movement’s history, reassess its priorities and reaffirm its importance.
