Six students have been involved in this year's community volunteering project. The project is run in conjunction with Community Partnerships at The University of Nottingham and the Blue Mountain Women's Enterprise, a community history project and library based in Hyson Green.
The project has been running since October and has recently come to an end for the year. Throughout the project the students have helped the Blue Mountain group in archiving and cataloguing their large collection of books, artefacts and other resources on the history of the African-Caribbean community in Nottingham.
Feedback from the students demonstrates what they gained from the experience and how volunteering can contribute to your studies:
Second year student, BA History
"I first started working with the Blue Mountain Women’s Group with the hope of gaining some new skills alongside my degree and meeting people I wouldn't ordinarily meet. The project has since taught me key archiving skills and given me a greater understanding of how library organisation systems work; something I never paid much attention to when just looking for books during my degree. More than this, the project has allowed me to get involved with the community and network with other charity organisations.
I have been able to experience a diverse range of cultures and make great friends whilst making a positive impact to a small organisation with big aspirations. Hopefully I can continue to work with the Blue Mountain Women’s Group in various capacities and develop my own skills, whilst helping the organisation carry on their work."
Second year student, BA Ancient History & History
"I had wanted to volunteer since my first year; however I was never completely sure what I could bring to the range of opportunities. The project has definitely helped me to develop my communication, team work, and leadership skills. We had to work together to organise fairly large amounts of literature and it was important that we communicated efficiently to understand what we wanted to achieve in each session. I feel I will now be confident in making decisions for a group and also working as part of a collective to complete tasks.
It was sometimes difficult to make time to visit the library, particularly during revision and coursework periods; nonetheless it was a very positive experience. I gained skills in time management as well as the aforementioned. It gave me the opportunity to work with new people and do something outside of my degree."
For more information about the project please contact Joe Merton.
Posted on Tuesday 2nd July 2013