Ella Koeppern (Impact), Mary Carolan (Impact)
Students may not pay council tax, or seem to have much spare cash lying around. But collectively the University of Nottingham (UoN) and Nottingham Trent University (NTU) contribute a whopping £3.8bn to the UK economy every year.
Student volunteer placements are one of those lesser known contributions. While it bridges the gap between academic learning and the real-world for students, it reduces operational costs for the businesses and helps drive local development.
Each year, Faculty of Arts Placements Manager Hayley Revill, supports over 300 students to secure volunteer placements in local businesses.
Hayley Revill acknowledges the misconceptions that some organisations hold about student volunteers.
She says: “There’s this image of students who may want to go out, stay out all night and then maybe not be as organised or prepared for the professional working environment in the morning.
“Or students might want to go on a placement just to add it to their CV.”
Those initial doubts rarely last
But she found that those initial doubts rarely last.
“Once [the host organisation] have worked with a couple of students, they usually keep coming back to us because they understand the value and benefits that it brings,” Ms. Revill says.
One such success story is a third-year English language and literature student, Jasmine Bilner.
As an Education Support Coordinator at Notts County Football Club, Jasmine develops tailored support plans to help young academy players balance their academic and athletic commitments.
Jasmine putting her English degree to good use
“I’m a very sporty person myself as a runner and have supported Notts County since I was young, so I had that as a motivation to help the club grow,” says the 22 year old from Ipswich.
“I wanted to help make learning as fun as the sport they love.”
She explains how she instantly felt comfortable there, adding: “Everyone’s goal for their future held equal value and I never felt out of place being only a volunteer on placement.”
For Jasmine, the placement has deepened her desire to give back to the local community.
Joshua Bradshaw, head of education and safeguarding at the club, highlights how Jasmine has integrated her English degree to make a lasting impact.
“She has organised two primary schools in the area of Nottingham that are seen as under-performing to come in and our scholars coach them. The players then read to all the kids from the primary schools,” says Joshua.
She has been a credit to the football club
“She has been a credit to the football club. Not just doing the job, but going above and beyond to bring the community and the academy into something that we sort of lose our place with a little in elite sport.”
Jasmine says: “It was clear from the beginning the children were there for the football but by the end you could see that they equally looked forward to the reading.”
For organisations that take the chance, the results often speak for themselves. “Quite often, hosts who are currently taking students will say, oh, it’s been brilliant, they’ve been involved in this, they’ve done that, they’re really throwing themselves in. They’ve got a great attitude,” Ms. Revill shares.
You can really change that narrative around student work ethic
“Once you get them in with a student, you can really change that narrative around student work ethic.”
Along with students having a lot on their plates to balance and with the “cost of living crisis that we’ve all been facing, more and more students are having to take paid employment,” however, she emphasises how she has had “only one student that has had to withdraw so far this year out of around 300. They [the students] do understand they are signing up for a commitment.”
For Ms. Revill, these experiences not only enrich students’ time at university but also equip them with valuable knowledge and insight, giving them an edge as they enter the workforce.
For many other local businesses, students are a key customer base.
Wild Clothing is Nottingham’s oldest independent clothing store, celebrating its 42nd birthday this year.
The majority of Wild’s customers are actually students
NTU student Eden Rowe, aged 20 and a Wild retail assistant, says “the majority of Wild’s customers are actually students and therefore are important to the business.”
Fellow NTU student and Wild colleague Georgia Waite, adds: “They expand our target market and market us by word of mouth to other students. For people who live in Nottingham already, Wild has always been here. Students bring a whole new group of customers each year.”
The majority of Wild’s customers are students
For both, the relationship between students and local businesses is mutually beneficial.
“I think Nottingham supports students by businesses offering discounts exclusively for students and clubs holding student nights,” says Eden.
“I feel Nottingham has a positive attitude to student culture,” adds Georgia. “There’s always events that encourage students’ presence, one that businesses can potentially profit off.”
The university’s Business Network plays a key role in the economy
For Paul Rice, Business Engagement Manager at The University of Nottingham, the university’s Business Network plays a key role in the economy through its connections with over 1600 small businesses across a variety of industries.
The Business Network hosts webinars and events to discuss changing, topical themes from the perspective of academic communities and local business leaders. It also helps provide recruitment and promotion opportunities.
“We’re the 8th most successful university at attracting international students to the UK, and the 1st in the region,” says Paul. “We support 17,000 UK jobs.”
Ella Koeppern (Impact), Mary Carolan (Impact)
Beyond the Campus is a collaborative reporting project involving over 20 students from 4 student publications in Nottingham and Birmingham. Impact, Redbrick, Platform and Lingo have joined forces to combat negative student stereotypes by spotlighting the ways they give back to their local communities.
In article image 1 and featured image courtesy of Josh Bradshaw. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of Mary Carolan. No changes were made to this image.
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