More than 300 Bournemouth & Poole College students took part in a charity football tournament and carried out random acts of kindness as part of their Student Volunteering Week.
The fifth year of the event, which ran from 19to 23 March and was organised by the Students’ Union, featured a host of activities to learn about and help a range of good causes. These included their chosen charity of the year, Julia’s House children’s hospice, as well Dorset Scrapstore, Swanage Railway Trust, and Dorset Police support volunteers. Overall students involved volunteered a total of 700 hours of their time across the week.
Students were invited to hear about sustainability, recycling and how to look after the environment through a workshop held by Friends of the Earth. Other events held during the Student Volunteering Week involved taking part in a litter pick surrounding the College’s North Road site, and a beach clean with the seafront rangers on Bournemouth Beach.
Lloyd Perry, student services manager at The College, said: “The Bournemouth & Poole College’s Students’ Union has always been at the heart of the College and the local community, so to be able to organise such great and rewarding activities for our students has been fantastic to see. We are so proud to be giving back to our local community which is so important to The College and the Students’ Union.”
In conjunction with the College’s chosen charity, Julia’s House, the students took part in a workshop to learn about how they could help the cause, which supports children with life-limiting conditions and their families. Students then participated in a fundraising football match, gave up their time to sort through donations at the charity’s Creekmoor shop, and were invited to sign up to a charity skydive.
Alicia Poulson, community fundraiser at Julia’s House, said: “The College is supporting us throughout the year in so many fantastic ways including the students and staff taking on a skydive. We would not be able to provide our vital care without the support of the local community, so a huge thank you to Bournemouth & Poole College for choosing to support their local children’s hospice this year.”
For more information about The College please visitwww.thecollege.co.uk or call 01202 205205.
