• Volunteer holidays on a budget: my Workaway experience

    Finding myself exam-free but with zero plans and very little money at the beginning of last summer, I was faced with a conundrum: how could I travel and make the most of my summer with no funds to do so? Searching online I stumbled upon ‘Workaway’ – a website...
  • Why everyone should take a gap year

    Gap years are not for everyone, and I certainly didn’t think they were for me. However, taking a gap year was one of the best decisions I could have ever made. It doesn’t matter whether it’s before or after university that you decide to have one: the year out...
  • What I learned from a month at Edinburgh Fringe

    During the month of August, a transformation occurs. A metamorphosis. Edinburgh, a city of cold cobbled streets and winding alleys, becomes saturated with people and fairy lights. Edinburgh is a city of contrasts; for most of the year it is an anachronism, with the castle and medieval streets echoing...
  • Secret Life of an Arts Student: Volunteering

    One of the best ways to get work experience as an Arts student has to be volunteering. However unintentionally, the world of museums, libraries and galleries are incredibly difficult to access if you want to be paid for your work, but almost any establishment will accept you if you’re...
  • “It’s time to end the stigma”: an interview with Student Minds

    All of us can relate to feeling fragile from time to time, especially in the thick of deadlines, homesickness and whatever other obstacles uni frequently presents. Impact spoke to Emily Riby, a volunteer for Student Minds, who told us about the work they do to help support those who...
  • Silver Headlines: Small Numbers Make Big Change

    Volunteering has long been a source of solace and reward both for those who devote their time and those who benefit from the hours given. Impact investigates two student-run volunteer projects to examine their effect on the societies they help. After the November 2013 typhoons in the Philippines, a team of...
  • Volunteering in Madagascar: Interview with a UoN student

    From July to September last year, University of Nottingham Geography student Bethan George visited the African island of Madagascar for 10 weeks. Whilst there she worked on a conservation and human development project with a charity called Azafady. From planting trees to monitoring lemurs and educating village children, Bethan...