Impact conference 2012 feedback
The conference was divided into three themes. Firstly, ‘Discover It’ which saw organisations presenting best practice in the field and discussing different methods to delivering projects. ‘Do It’ provided students with the knowledge and skills to go out and run successful social action projects. And finally, ‘Debate It’ provided a platform for lively discussions around topics like the incentivisation of volunteers, the impact of £9,000 tuition fees on student volunteering and whether bite size volunteering does lead to social change. All in all, it definitely provided some food for thought.
Impact Network launch announced
The most important and exciting part of the conference was the proposal made by the Impact Committee to launch the Impact Network in 2012. With cuts in recent years being made to the support infrastructure for student volunteering, the aim of the network would be to fill this gap and become the principal body for advocating and supporting student volunteering in the UK.
This is no mean feat and it is up to the soon to be newly elected Impact Committee 2012/13 to put their plans into action, which include:
• Organising an annual IMPACT conference
• Increasing media coverage of student volunteering
• Sharing best practice through online resources and creation of a network to improve ideas sharing, problem solving etc…
• Organising regional and national events to increase awareness
• Lobby universities to stimulate growth in student civic engagement
• Responding to policy together with other voices from across the UK.
Find out more
If you’re a student and fancy having a voice in shaping this exciting and vibrant new network be sure to apply for one of their committee roles by 26th February.
We’re looking forward to seeing how the network develops. In the meantime you can find out more about the brilliant work and achievements of student volunteers by taking a look at what events are going on across the country next week during Student Volunteering Week.