ACCREDITATION

Students volunteer for SCA for many different reasons; to make new friends, to have new experiences, to escape the student bubble, perhaps the essence of it comes down to helping other people, which can eclipse how much it could help you.

It is important to recognise that volunteering can make a huge difference to your life and it’s down to you to make the most of it! In today’s world you need to show that you are more than the sum of your paper qualifications. You need to show future employers that you have initiative and can communicate and solve problems outside of the academic world.

SCA can offer you two schemes that give you recognition for your volunteering in two different ways. You can sign up for either or both of these Schemes.

Millennium Volunteers

You can sign up as a Millennium Volunteer when you begin volunteering and receive recognition for the number of hours that you give. After 100 hours of volunteering you receive an award signed by the Minister for Skills and Vocational education, Ivan Lewis. After 200 hours of volunteering you receive the MV Award of Excellence, signed by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Estelle Morris and a Profile of your personal development.

You can register as a Millennium Volunteer on the SCA application form, and then it’s up to you to keep a record of the number of hours that you give. This includes ALL time spent on your volunteering; on your project, any planning time, meetings, training or conferences you attend. When you have reached your target of 100 or 200 hours let Jess Britton know and she will arrange for your certificate. If you have achieved 200 hours you will need to complete a Profile.

If you are doing the hours it’s worth getting the credit for it!

www.millenniumvolunteers.gov.uk

COMMUNITY WORK EXPERIENCE AWARD

This scheme is another means of recognising your work, but takes you several steps further than MV accreditation and enables you to identify and

evaluate the skills you have gained. You need to

attend an Induction session ran with the Careers

Service including current Graduate Skills

information and two review sessions with the

CWEA Mentor, Jess Britton.

An easy to use Reflective Log is provided to guide you through the process and there is ongoing support available. The award takes around 10 hours to complete on top of the hours you spend volunteering. It is delivered in partnership with the

Career Advisory Service, who offer an equivalent award for paid work experience.

It is endorsed by Student Volunteering England and the University of Bristol Union, and is an asset to your CV!

Here are some comments made by SCA volunteers who have completed the award:

“Really good pack and well run programme. Helped me remember accurate details of volunteering and improve my self awareness”

Louise Telford, Panda Club

“It helped to think about what I wanted to do and how to plan it in a clear format. This award has been so helpful to me!”

Hannah Marder, Panda Club

You can register your interest in the CWEA on the SCA application form and Induction sessions will be held in October and November, see the Training programme for dates.

To download more information click here.

In Partnership with the Careers Advisory service www.bris.ac.uk/cas/wep

To sign up or find out more about either of these schemes email:

scaaccreditation-ubu@bris.ac.uk