Student Volunteering Week
Student Volunteering Week Grant Winner Case Study Project Talk to me London – delivered in partnership by Imperial, LSE, UCL
What happened? As part of our ‘Talk to me London’ project we encouraged students to engage in conversations with people that they don’t know, to talk to the general public about their volunteering and to talk to other students about volunteering. All three partners took a slightly different approach. At LSE they had a stall in Houghton Street with the badges and also approached the School community in the queue of one of the on campus cafes to encourage conversations between people waiting to be served. UCL used the badges at the annual LGBT+ Volunteering Fair to instigate conversations between students and organisations. The badges were also used by student groups visiting older people in community centres. At Imperial the badges were a part of the organ donor project – encouraging students to talk about becoming organ donors and given to people interested in volunteering. There was a mixed reaction to the project, as you might expect with something that is new and different. Some students responded enthusiastically to the idea while others had reservations. At UCL the students and organisations at the Volunteering Fair were interested in engaging with the campaign as it encouraged people to start conversations with each other. The older people at the community centres were also very happy to hear about the campaign and receive badges. At Imperial it allowed students to talk about donating their organs a topic that can be awkward to raise otherwise.
Raising the profile The project encouraged students to go out and talk about their volunteering experiences. We also hoped that the ‘new experience’ of speaking to someone you don’t know in an informal setting would make students more likely to try the new experience of volunteering. For example, the use of badges at the UCL LGBT+ Volunteering Fair offered a reason to start a conversation with organisations which may have led to finding out about new volunteering opportunities. It was great to talk to students about the issue of social isolation and the unfriendliness of London, it was
interesting to see how student volunteering engaged with the idea of talking to their peers and strangers about volunteering, a few noted that it had encouraged them to reflect on their own experiences. We had different experiences across the three universities, but generally students were excited to receive the badges and were very responsive to the campaign.
Challenges At LSE unfortunately we were sent the wrong badges due to a mix up. They said "Talk to me SE London". Understandably people were a bit confused about the south east London part. The badges are also very small and are difficult to read. Some of the LSE volunteers felt a bit despondent after several people told them they were happy not talking to other people they didn’t know and therefore didn’t want to wear the badges. They felt it was a tough sell – which was a real shame in terms of dispiriting the volunteer effort.
Final thoughts Make sure you leave plenty of time to plan it! It would also be good for the charity representatives to come to the days when activities are happening so that students who’ve started the conversations with current volunteers can hear from charities directly. They would be able to talk about the project with a lot more authority and probably have many ideas on engaging with people. At UCL the badges were used at events where people were already expecting to start conversations and engage with each other. They were an excellent tool to maximise social interaction and start new conversations. I think the campaign would have been far more challenging if students were attempting to start conversations outside of this safe and conducive environment – as experienced at UCL.
What happened? As part of our ‘Talk to me London’ project we encouraged students to engage in conversations with people that they don’t know, to talk to the general public about their volunteering and to talk to other students about volunteering. All three partners took a slightly different approach. At LSE they had a stall in Houghton Street with the badges and also approached the School community in the queue of one of the on campus cafes to encourage conversations between people waiting to be served. UCL used the badges at the annual LGBT+ Volunteering Fair to instigate conversations between students and organisations. The badges were also used by student groups visiting older people in community centres. At Imperial the badges were a part of the organ donor project – encouraging students to talk about becoming organ donors and given to people interested in volunteering. There was a mixed reaction to the project, as you might expect with something that is new and different. Some students responded enthusiastically to the idea while others had reservations. At UCL the students and organisations at the Volunteering Fair were interested in engaging with the campaign as it encouraged people to start conversations with each other. The older people at the community centres were also very happy to hear about the campaign and receive badges. At Imperial it allowed students to talk about donating their organs a topic that can be awkward to raise otherwise.
Raising the profile The project encouraged students to go out and talk about their volunteering experiences. We also hoped that the ‘new experience’ of speaking to someone you don’t know in an informal setting would make students more likely to try the new experience of volunteering. For example, the use of badges at the UCL LGBT+ Volunteering Fair offered a reason to start a conversation with organisations which may have led to finding out about new volunteering opportunities. It was great to talk to students about the issue of social isolation and the unfriendliness of London, it was
interesting to see how student volunteering engaged with the idea of talking to their peers and strangers about volunteering, a few noted that it had encouraged them to reflect on their own experiences. We had different experiences across the three universities, but generally students were excited to receive the badges and were very responsive to the campaign.
Challenges At LSE unfortunately we were sent the wrong badges due to a mix up. They said "Talk to me SE London". Understandably people were a bit confused about the south east London part. The badges are also very small and are difficult to read. Some of the LSE volunteers felt a bit despondent after several people told them they were happy not talking to other people they didn’t know and therefore didn’t want to wear the badges. They felt it was a tough sell – which was a real shame in terms of dispiriting the volunteer effort.
Final thoughts Make sure you leave plenty of time to plan it! It would also be good for the charity representatives to come to the days when activities are happening so that students who’ve started the conversations with current volunteers can hear from charities directly. They would be able to talk about the project with a lot more authority and probably have many ideas on engaging with people. At UCL the badges were used at events where people were already expecting to start conversations and engage with each other. They were an excellent tool to maximise social interaction and start new conversations. I think the campaign would have been far more challenging if students were attempting to start conversations outside of this safe and conducive environment – as experienced at UCL.
