Volunteering week encourages students to get involved in community projects

Outreach photo exhibition kicks off the week’s activities - News

Wednesday 13 June 2007
By Naomi Weston

Celebrating Imperial Outreach activities

A new exhibition focusing on the wide range of exciting projects organised by the College’s Outreach Office officially opened on Monday 4 June and will be open for a month.

From the Chemistry at Work day and the peer-tutoring scheme, the Pimlico Connection to volunteering on restoration projects, the photos illustrate the wide range of activities that have been available to both students and school children looking ahead to their future.

The Outreach Office runs open days, mentoring in schools, widening participation activities, science activities and summer schools.

Imperial Public Engagement 2006/2007, a photo exhibition of Imperial Outreach activities within the local community, is showing at the Blythe Art Gallery, Level 5, Sherfield Building, South Kensington Campus.

SS Robin Project

Volunteers from the Faculty of Engineering helped restore the world’s oldest complete steam ship last week as part of Volunteering Week. SS Robin, originally built in 1890, is in desperate need of restoration and relies on the help it receives from volunteers.

Students from the Department of Materials were busy repainting the gunwhales and the deck of the ship, wood staining and varnishing the floor.

One volunteer, Diana Iza, second year Materials student, who is from Venezuela, took part in the day’s activities. "I am really enjoying being outdoors and doing something practical," she said. Soumaya Mauthoor, first year PhD Materials student, added: "I love taking part in these volunteering projects as they always involve doing something different and they are a great opportunity to meet like-minded people."

Managing Director of the SS Robin Trust, Nishani Kampfner, loves seeing young people interacting with history and taking a hands-on approach to restoration. "We need to restore the long term future of this ship and partnerships like this with Imperial are very exciting and vital to the project. The students are working alongside professionals and retired merchant seamen and even in a day are making a visible difference to the ship," she commented.

The SS Robin Trust started four years ago and owns, operates and maintains the historic steamship in its new role as an innovative centre for marginalised young people to learn visual literacy skills with photographers, picture editors and media professionals. The charity runs a series of workshops in schools and the community.

The day was jointly organised by the Department of Materials, the Outreach Office and the SS Robin Trust.

Nature conservation project

On 6 June the Outreach team helped with vegetation management of the rough grassland habitat in Little Wormwood Scrubs Park, London.

The team pulled up weeds and helped to maintain a balance of vegetation to benefit the local wildlife. This area provides valuable habitat for a variety of species, including grasshoppers and butterflies. The patches of scrub provide valuable nesting and feeding opportunities for a variety of small birds. Kestrels are often seen hovering over the long grass in search of prey.

Groundwork West London, an environmental charity, provided instruction and supervision of the volunteers on the day and provided all the tools and gloves.

Minna Ruohonen, Imperial Volunteer Centre Manager, said: "It is great to see the general interest in volunteering and community engagement, expressed by different people throughout the College. We received lots of interest in volunteering during the week and the Volunteering Week was a great success, although every week is a volunteering week for the Imperial Volunteer Centre!"