ImageI have spent the last couple of years trying to develop our approach to student-led volunteering – with some success stories and some projects that have not come to fruition…yet.

Each student that wants to run a project has to go through a fairly robust process: registering their interest; developing their idea into a five page application; pitching their project to a funding panel at UBS; project management training, project planning and budget setting and attending regular meetings with their project management coach (a UBS employee volunteer).

Sometimes I worry that this asks too much of these students, but the process is beneficial for everyone to go through. Students learn to develop an idea, communicate it to a broad audience and gain advanced project management skills, such as resolving conflict, motivating volunteers and liaising with stakeholders at every level of the project.

When a project doesn’t work, the application process still provides an excellent opportunity to reflect and learn how problems can arise and how to avoid them arising next time.

The satisfaction that students gain from seeing their idea come to life is huge and when their project is successful there are so many winners!

  • Direct beneficiaries gain from seeing a need met
  • Student volunteers get to participate in something taking place at extremely local level
  • Student project leaders gain all sorts of skills, plaudits and satisfaction from seeing their work come to fruition
  • Project management coaches get to see their skills leveraged to make a difference in the local community – not just in a financial setting
  • The university benefits from an enhanced reputation and positive publicity for its students
  • The volunteering service benefits from having a greater range and scale of volunteering opportunities available to its students and hopefully a sustainable project that can outlast any one staff member

All of us benefit from having more confident, skilled young leaders who know how to make a difference. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d prefer to have fewer projects of higher quality go through the programme.