Student Hubs | Review | 2OO8-1O
Student Hubs works across the UK to transform student involvement in social action. We seek to act as a catalyst, empowering students to become active members of their community by promoting social action, social entrepreneurship and citizenship.
03 Introduction 04 Bristol Hub 06 Cambridge Hub 08 Ethical Internships 09 Oxford Social Enterprise Forum 10 Skoll:Emerge 2009 11 Emerge Ideas Competition 12 Oxford Hub 15 Southampton Hub
17 InterAction 17 New Voters New Politics 18 Hubathons and the network 19 Historical Research 20 Finances 21 Future 21 Student Hubs Team 22 Thank you 23 Photo credits
Design by Rachel Stephenson
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It has been an exciting first two years for Student Hubs, which must end with warm thanks to everyone who has believed in us and helped along the way. It is truly inspiring to see our network of hubs growing, and more students connecting with causes as a result. The two years’ success belongs to these students: those who came along to hear a speaker, volunteered in the office, took up an internship during the holidays or attended one of our development courses. To all those who made a difference, thank you. Student Hubs now operates in four vibrant universities: Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford and Southampton. Each individual hub is unique, and responds to its environment and the specific needs of the students it exists to support. However, the network is built upon the belief that sharing practice and resources leads to efficiency and sustainability: we share ideas, processes and values across the hubs, and everyone benefits. Nationally, Student Hubs now reaches over 12,000 students, and supports over 90 student groups. Together, our websites have seen over 50,000 unique visitors since launching, receiving an average of 2,500 new visits each month. These are great results for our first two years, and will serve as a strong foundation for our future development. Highlights of the past two years have included: - Social entrepreneurship: After the Oxford Social Enterprise Forum (OxSEF) held in May 2009, our strategy to engage students with social entrepreneurship has grown hugely, in line with the growing profile of the sector - indeed, Gordon Brown dubbed it “the new British success story, forging a new frontier”. In this review, you can read all about Skoll: Emerge 2009, the student conference on social entrepreneurship which built upon the success of OxSEF through a partnership with the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship based at Oxford University's Said Business School. This brought together over 350 students with experts, academics and social entrepreneurs to inspire a new generation of young people keen to grow business for good.
Student Hubs Review 2OO8-1O
Introduction
- Ethical Internships: We have placed over 35 students in local charities, NGOs and social enterprises as interns during summer university holidays, generating around £50,000 worth of economic value for the community. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and plans for the 2011 see us expanding the scheme fully across the network. - Conferences: Each hub has hosted a conference on social and environmental issues, such as international development or climate change, giving students the opportunity not only to learn from experts and practitioners in the field, but to develop their own capacity through practical workshops and sessions. These courses and forums inspire students to think about the greater world in which they live, and to take action as individuals, whether through campaigning, volunteering or fundraising. Since launching, Student Hubs has welcomed over 1,500 to conferences, and a further 1,700 to speaker events across the network.
Our vision is of a flourishing community of socially aware and socially active students who make a positive difference at home and abroad, both during their time at university and in their future careers. Our mission is to increase student engagement in social action and to ensure these efforts are effective and sustainable.
- Community Volunteering: We are very proud of the launching of Oxford Hub: Community Volunteers in 2008, and its subsequent dramatic growth from just five to 18 projects facilitating students volunteering locally. Over 800 volunteering opportunities have been created through the scheme, and it continues to develop, increasing students’ positive impact within the local community. At the end of our first two years of operation as a national network, we are anticipating a bright future. There will be challenges; there will be successes; there will be new opportunities to grow and to learn. The recent economic situation and government cuts have highlighted just how important it is to strive for financial sustainability, and this will be a focus for the coming year - please see in particular our plans to move into a multi-purpose venue in the centre of Oxford. However, the path we follow is always carved out by the students who inspired us to exist: our next steps will reflect what they care about, what they want to change in the world. It is becoming ever clearer that students have a unique role to play in creating social change, both now and in the future. With a team of staff to support them, our Hubs are still raring to go. We hope you are too. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with questions, suggestions and words of wisdom. Enjoy this Review and thank you again for your support. Hub love,
Adam O’Boyle Founder & Director adam.oboyle@studenthubs.org
Adam Grodecki Founder & Chair adam.grodecki@studenthubs.org
Rachel Stephenson Founder & Director rachel.stephenson@studenthubs.org
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Profile: Jon Broad Co-Coordinator, Bristol Hub What do you do with Bristol Hub? My role in Hub is, broadly, communication, including writing The Week, coordinating the meetings within the committee, answering a lot of the many emails that are thrown at us and trying to help the other Hub committee members with their roles.
Bristol Hub Drawing on the Student Hubs model, Bristol Hub was set up in 2008 by Max Wakefield and Sophie Hewitt, who then acted as the central coordinators and recruited friends and society members into the committee. Primarily, Bristol Hub has been working to publicise the social, developmental and environmental projects and campaigns in Bristol, and reaching and inspiring students through conferences, club nights and an ethically-themed pub quiz. Over the past two years, the Hub committee has grown and, as well as putting on the Sustainability and Development Conferences and Conscience club nights, they have also been working on: Skill sharing sessions: Days where people can exchange ideas and talents that may facilitate their work. The Student Restaurant: Run in tandem between students, FoodCycle and the food cooperative, this project serves to reduce the impact of food waste and the injustice of food poverty in the local community. Students cook a meal with surplus food, which is then distributed to those in food poverty as well as being served up to students to generate income to cover the project’s costs. The Hub’s member groups are also welcome to put on talks or film nights to coincide with the Student Restaurant, so the project also works as a space for learning, meeting new people and making change.
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How did you come to be involved? Last year I was involved in the Bristol University Sustainability Team (BUST) and Aegis and a couple of other Hub member societies. This led me to naturally get involved with the Hub, and when I heard they were recruiting for coordinators I wanted to get involved. I have seen the value that Hub brings to Bristol's societies and students and wanted to facilitate that for the future. If you had ÂŁ50bn to save the world, what would you do? I am a firm believer that the multi-dimensional characters of the population of the world tend towards good, and that power is best in the hands of many than in the hands of the few. I would invest in micro- economic banks comparable to the Grameen bank of Bangladesh, and I would try to establish Hub-like projects across the world that facilitate other's projects and keep them sustainable through documenting and analysing their work over time. This would unleash the power of the people in making the world a better place and would serve to make the world a more fair, equal place that would organically flourish in culture, science, wealth and create a powerful global community.
Student Hubs Review 2OO8-1O
Sustainability and development conferences Bristol Hub has hosted annual Sustainability and Development Conferences, which are the first of their kind at the University of Bristol. During its one-day schedule, the SDC 2009 welcomed 80 students and hosted John Hilary, the director of War on Want, as well as representatives from Christian Aid, Greenpeace and Climate Rush. Lunch was provided by the Fair Trade society at a low cost.
Bristol Hub Team Coordinators Max Wakefield, Sohpie Hewitt; Jonathan Broad, Sannan Habib Khan, Jonny Godwin Committee Anna Ashton, Dan Iles, Will Irwin, Ali Jaffery, Jade Neville, Laurence Palfreyman, Kester Ratcliffe
Building on the inaugural Bristol SDC, the 2010 event, packed full of speakers, workshop sessions and panel debates, focussed on the question, ‘What would a sustainable future look like?’. The event again attracted nearly 80 students to discuss and debate in sessions led by practitioners from Oxfam, Bristol Fairtrade Network, Sustainable Development Commission, UKYCC, Mapuche International Link, Transition Bristol, and the Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems. The SDC 2010 also offered a keynote address from People & Planet’s Andrew Taylor, and sessions led by Dr Columba Peoples, on human security and development, and by Dr Maggie Studholme, on production and consumption in global capitalism.
Conscience club nights Conscience is the University of Bristol's ethical club night and Bristol Hub has had the pleasure of taking it on in recent years. Each year, Conscience chooses a cause for which the event raises both money and awareness and, in the first year Bristol Hub ran Conscience, the total proceeds of £800 went to the Disasters Emergency Committee fund for the Congo. The following year, Bristol Hub hosted Conscience for Climate Change, and welcomed music acts such as beatboxers, local bands and DJs alongside many member groups, who used the event as an opportunity to promote their activities to ethically-minded students.
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Cambridge Hub Team Coordinators Laura Robson, Helen Pallett; Natalie Papanastasiou, Elisabeth Sedmik Committee Naomi Billingsley, Lin Lee, Rosie Hartrop, Richenda Herzig, Junko Takata, Stephan Tate, 2010 Coordinators Rhiannon Mulherin, Nicola Lui
Cambridge Hub Cambridge Hub was set up in June 2008 by Laura Robson and Helen Pallett, after discussing the idea with Student Hubs founder Adam O’Boyle at the Cambridge International Development Course. Meetings with potential member groups and partners were held in June and the Hub was officially launched in October 2008 - at the start of the academic year - to tackle the lack of communication between student groups with similar aims and the problems that smaller groups had engaging with students. Due to the fragmented and diverse nature of the charity, volunteering, ethical and campaigning scene in Cambridge, a major challenge for the Hub has been to create dialogue between almost 40 member groups and find the best way to meet such varied needs. The greatest successes of Cambridge Hub over the past two years have been highlighting the need for cooperation and collaboration between groups and enabling this through networking opportunities like the Refreshers Tea Parties and Steering Group meetings. With so much going on within Cambridge’s busy student charity sector, the Hub’s weekly mailout, The Week, has also become a valuable resource for students and groups alike: students can access a comprehensive list of the week’s activities and events, and groups have a wide-reaching platform from which to attract participation.
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Each year, to welcome new students and to offer a platform for member groups, Cambridge Hub hosts a Refreshers Tea Party. This is a very important event for consolidating the importance of the Hub to students in Cambridge and not only promoting member groups, but encouraging them to forge links with one another and with wider community groups. With lots of tea and delicious cakes, provided by the Rainbow Café and baked by the Hub team, the Refreshers Tea Parties offer new students a more relaxed environment than hectic Freshers Fair in which to find out about ethical and environmental student groups, and to be inspired to get involved. Cambridge Hub has hosted many groups at the Tea Parties, including: Cambridge University International Development, Transition Cambridge, Stop AIDs, Student Community Action, RAG, CUSU Ethical Affairs, Linkline, Environmental Consulting Society, Cambridge University Amnesty International, Students Supporting Street Kids, and The Forum. Each year, the Tea Party becomes more popular, and it has definitely become one of the key events of the term calendar for Cambridge’s charity scene. In a decentralised collegiate environment, it is important that the Hub reaches as many students as possible in order to help them connect with an opportunity to have a positive impact, whether locally or globally. For this reason, the Refreshers Tea Party is here to stay. !
Co-Coordinator, Cambridge Hub 2009-10
What did you do with Cambridge Hub? Along with my fellow coordinator, Lisa, I was ! responsible for coordinating the activities of the Hub Team, liaising with the Hub’s member groups, and making sure that the Cambridge Hub was always building and improving on its past achievements.
Student Hubs Review 2OO8-1O
Refreshers Tea Parties
Profile: Natalie Papanastasiou
How did you come to get involved with the Hub this year? I was always struck by how fragmented Cambridge’s charity / volunteering / ethical scene was, and how difficult it actually was to get information on events and ways of getting involved. Last year I heard about the Hub and immediately thought that it seemed like a brilliant idea. Thus, when I received an e-mail that was advertising for the position of Hub Coordinators I jumped at the opportunity – and was thrilled when I got it! If you had £50b to save the world, what would you do? Hand it over to people who are far wiser than me. But maybe I’d keep a little for the Hub’s own savingthe-world activities too!
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Profile: Jess Davies
2009 Ethical Intern with the Ethical Property Company, Oxford How did you come to be an ethical intern? I came across an advert for the Ethical Internship scheme in the weekly email towards the end of term, and a quick Google search of the organisations involved persuaded me to apply to work at Ethical Property Company, a successful social enterprise based in Oxford. The company provides office and networking space for ‘social change organisations’, including NGOs and social enterprises across the UK and in Brussels. What did your placement involve? My task was to market a hot-desking initiative in the Brussels centre, making use of my French (once I got over my nerves!) and developing some marketing skills. The office was a welcoming and inspiring place to work – it made a real difference to be working somewhere where people shared the aims and ethics of the business. It was exciting, too, to learn more about the third sector in general, and particularly about the potential that businesses can have to contribute positively to society. What has happened since your placement? Ethical Property asked me to return for two weeks’ paid employment in the summer, when I worked on researching the possibility of opening a new centre in Paris; a challenging but rewarding task which granted me a high level of responsibility. Social enterprise is certainly something I will look into when it comes to career choices – and my experiences at Ethical Property have definitely improved my CV, as well as being a genuinely enjoyable way to spend some of my vacation time.
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Ethical Internships 2009 saw the advent of a new concept: the Ethical Internship scheme. initially operating in Oxford, this simple model enables local NGOs, charities and social enterprises to benefit from the enthusiasm and talent of students, whilst providing these students with a valuable opportunity to gain real experience of the third sector. Many small- and medium-sized charities and social enterprises are under-resourced and lack capacity to achieve their goals, so the scheme provides them with exceptional student interns for 4-8 weeks. We offer all organisations hosting student interns a comprehensive support package, enabling smaller organisations to have the capacity, ability and confidence to take on and successfully manage an intern. The scheme not only provides students with workplace experience and the opportunity to learn new skills, but also offers the chance for students to meet new, likeminded people and build their networks in the sector. After a well-received pilot in the spring of 2009, the full internship programme was rolled out over the summer breaks in 2009 and 2010. To date we have placed 35 students into internships with a wide variety of ethical organisations, including British Red Cross, Big Wide Talk, Cambridge Cyrenians, Age UK Oxfordshire, Oxfam, YWCA and Siren Conservation. We have received positive feedback from both organisations and interns, and we will be building on this feedback to develop the scheme for the future.
Student Hubs Review 2OO8-1O
Oxford Social Enterprise Forum Held in May 2009, OxSEF brought together 130 practitioners, academics and students from across the country to participate in a variety of panel debates and workshop sessions on the topic of social enterprise. The event was held in association with the Commission for Youth Social Enterprise, and was supported by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs. OxSEF featured panel discussions, keynotes and debates led by many a social entrepreneur: speakers included Chris Allwood, Founder of Auction my stuff; Reed Paget, Founder of Belu Water; and Ben Tuxworth, Director of Communications at Forum for the Future. There was also an environmental slant to the weekend, with a screening of ‘The Age of Stupid’, and some lively debate on the question ‘Should we leave it to the market to save the environment?’ featuring advocates of both sides, including Sir David King, Former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government, and Marc Laabs, Director of European Operations at Climate Bridge. The forum was characterised by a high level of energy and inspiration. This was apparent in the positive response to the pitching competition, ‘The Big Pitch’, in which three finalists were awarded a £500 grant from UnLtd, one of whom was also given £1000 worth of office space. Mojdeh Moasser, whose start-up Good Foundations was a recipient of one of the £500 awards, commented “I wasn't expecting myself to participate in ‘The Big Pitch’ but I was overwhelmed by the amount of inspiration in the forum and felt really motivated to kick start something quickly and with the £500 award I will be able to do just that.”
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Skoll:Emerge 2009 The Skoll:Emerge student conference on social entrepreneurship was grown out of OxSEF and delivered in partnership with Oxford University’s Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. Held at the Said Business School in Oxford, and kindly supported by Barclays Capital, Skoll:Emerge incorporated sessions on global challenges, careers and start-up social ventures, as well as launching the Emerge Ideas Competition for emerging student social entrepreneurs. Skoll:Emerge welcomed 300 delegates from over 25 universities, with many students attending from Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, LSE, UCL and Warwick, to hear from 22 speakers from 11 countries worldwide. Speakers included founder of CDI, Rodrigo Baggio, and the founding CEO of Kanchi, Caroline Casey, who received a standing ovation for her inspiring talk on her own journey to becoming a social entrepreneur. Not only did the Skoll:Emerge delegates offer us some great feedback on the event 86% were either extremely or very satisfied - all speakers also told us they would be very likely to follow up with someone they met at the conference. Skoll:Emerge provided a great mix of speakers and sessions and, crucially, served to open up students’ understanding of and access to the social enterprise sector through facilitated networking and break out sessions. The conference was testament to the growth of social entrepreneurship as something young people are increasing aware of and passionate about: it is clear that Student Hubs must continue to develop the student social enterprise sector as far as possible, supporting students who want to make a difference in the world through taking an enterprising and innovative approach to the world’s challenges.
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Following the Emerge conference, a group of student social entrepreneurs worked on their fledgling projects in a bid to raise start-up capital through the Emerge Ideas Competition. After pitching at the conference itself, the selected finalists - who had been among over 40 applications - were offered training, support and incubation to hone their business plans and build their personal and professional development. After this process, at the final hosted by Tim Hartley, each team pitched to an expert panel of judges in front of their supporters. After much deliberation, the judges came to their final decisions. They chose to split the £15,000 available prize money into three awards of £7,500, £5,000 and £2,500, and gave all the finalists constructive feedback.
Student Hubs Review 2OO8-1O
Emerge Ideas Competition
The projects the judges felt deserved the awards were Spurious Drug Detector (£7,500), Future Industries (£5,000) and Green Cycle (£2,500). With this investment, the projects will be able to push their projects to the next level, and achieve lasting social benefits, which are built right into their business plan.
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Oxford Hub Team Presidents Jake Leeper, Hannah MacDiarmid OHCV Coordinators Claire Wright, Alice Thornton OxFID Coordinators Dominic Rowland, Ann DonBosco; Jo Evans, Archie Davies Oxford Climate Forum Coordinator Julia Koskella Advisory Board Chair Jack Wellby With thanks to the wider student committees, project coordinators and volunteers.
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Oxford Hub Oxford Hub has enjoyed a busy two years, with activities ranging widely and student engagement growing dramatically. Now reaching over 5,500 students on a weekly basis, Oxford Hub has been working to support more student volunteers and student groups focussed on social and environmental issues. In addition to larger conferences on international development and climate change, Oxford Hub has consistently run The Series, a weekly speaker event aimed at informing students on a range of issues, from homelessness and child poverty to global health and human rights. The Series is run in conjunction with Oxford Hub’s member groups - student-led societies in the charity, campaigning and volunteering sector. A huge development for Oxford Hub during 2008-10 was the development of Oxford Hub: Community Volunteers, a coordinating arm of the organisation working to organise, support, promote and grow student volunteering in Oxford’s local community. Through Oxford Hub: Community Volunteers, over 800 volunteering opportunities have been taken up by students, and their activities range widely: some projects work with young people and children, some on food poverty and justice issues, some on conservation and the environment and some on supporting local charities such as a children’s hospice. Through volunteering locally, students not only gain skills, meet new people and learn about the issues they are tackling, but they also have a real impact in the local community. Another recent development for Oxford Hub has been delivering the Vice-Chancellor’s Civic Awards, in partnership with the University of Oxford. The Awards are given to six exceptional students on an annual basis, in recognition of an outstanding contribution to society and the wider world. The inaugural student winners in 2010 were awarded for their commitment to a range of wonderful activities, including supporting local children’s education, campaigning on global health issues, and climate change research.
What does your project do? Who does it work with? Maths Plus is a student volunteering project that provides one-to-one tuition in Maths to local GCSE students on the C/D grade borderline. The project began this year and has so far worked with Oxford Community School. We are hoping to expand Maths Plus next year to work in two schools on different days, to be more flexible for volunteers and to reach out and help more students. What’s the best aspect of your project? One of the best things about Maths Plus is the fact that it is such a simple and efficient project. It is incredibly cheap and easy to run, so can be sustained in the long term. It uses the specific skills of the volunteers, and so helps them work in a way they feel makes good use of their time and effort. This, and the very rewarding nature of tutoring, have made the project very popular with a base of dedicated volunteers.
Student Hubs Review 2OO8-1O
Oxford Hub Project Profile: Maths Plus
Who gains most – students or the community? Everybody involved gets something out of Maths Plus. Volunteers enjoy focusing their energy on something challenging yet different from academic work, and engaging with children. Some volunteers now hope to go on to teach; the project has both inspired them and provided experience. The students have seen their class work improve with the additional help, and the GCSE results have certainly reflected this: all of the students involved achieved a C grade, with one A and one B grade among the group as well! Volunteers have also reported increased engagement with the subject from their tutees. Oxford Community School has struggled to produce C-grade candidates at GCSE, with attainment below the national average, and Maths Plus has offered them valuable support this year. The partnership between the school and the project improves universitytown relations as well as the prospects of individuals in the community. Favourite memory or anecdote? One of the most rewarding moments of Maths Plus for me occurred when I was tutoring three boys who clearly did not want to be tutored, and said they didn't need to speak to me. Although they had started off both sullen and embarrassed, when the hour had finished they asked to stay longer because they had enjoyed it so much. I was even asked if I was coming back next week. It's moments like this, when it becomes clear that a single hour can inject so much enthusiasm for learning into a student, and help them overcome hurdles, that I'm most proud of the project and volunteers. Carys Roberts, University College, Oxford
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Oxford Forum for International Development OxFID is a weekend conference on international development aimed at informing and inspiring over 400 university students. In 2009, OxFID took the title ‘Creative Solutions to Urgent Problems’, and in 2010 the conference tackled ‘Development in Crisis and Conflict’. Since its inception in 2008, OxFID has hosted speakers such as the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes; Channel 4 broadcaster Jon Snow; the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court; and Andrew Smith, [then Shadow] Secretary of State for International Development.
Oxford Forum for International Development 2010 Development in Crisis and Conflict 5-7th February Friday launch event: £4 Early-bird weekend: £13
30+ influential, international speakers
oxfordhub.org/oxfid
In both 2009 and 2010, OxFID has offered an amazing opportunity for students to discuss and debate some of the most pressing international development issues with experts and practitioners in the field in a space outside their academic studies. This means the conference reaches a huge range of students, across the arts and humanities and the sciences. The conference is unique in its scope, breadth of participation and in its student-led nature - Oxford Hub is planning the next OxFID, scheduled for early 2011, with enthusiasm.
Oxford Climate Forum The inaugural Oxford Climate Forum took place in February 2010, in the aftermath of COP 15 in Copenhagen. With the aim of attracting all types of student leaders to come together to discuss the issues surrounding climate change, the first ever Oxford Climate Forum hosted 85 young people in discussion with a range of speakers, from former LSE Director Lord Antony Giddens and energy visionary Jeremy Leggett, to Power 2010 Director Pam Giddy and environmental entrepreneur Kresse Wesling. The forum was timed so that students could be inspired to create an effective vision for tackling climate change despite the inconclusive talks in Copenhagen, and not only did delegates appreciate the wealth of information and discussion afforded by the speaker sessions, they also benefited greatly from networking with their peers from universities across the UK.
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One of Southampton Hub’s member groups, Green Action organises and encourages environmental activism at the University of Southampton with activities such as campaigning, debates, discussions, film showings, socials, protests, environmental festivals, guerrilla and community gardening, and more besides! Green Action is a horizontally organised society using direct democracy, which means all members can have a say in what they do and can get involved in their projects and campaigns. Groups associated with Green Action include: the student chapter of Guerrilla Gardening Southampton, which reclaims neglected land through illicit cultivation; TransitionSoc, which promotes awareness of climate change and peak oil and campaigs for Southampton University to join the Transition movement; the student volunteer Growing Project, which builds veggie gardens for homeless shelters; and the Freegan group, which saves unwanted food from going into landfill.
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Southampton Hub is the focal point for social and environmental student activity.
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Through events and a website, we can connect you with a cause to help tackle the social and environmental challenges of today.
www.southamptonhub.org
Student Hubs Review 2OO8-1O
Profile: Hub Member Group
Southampton Hub Southampton Hub came onto the Southampton University scene in 2008, looking to build the community of students interested in making a difference in the world. Southampton University has a diverse student population, and the Hub aims to bring these students together to get informed about social and environmental issues, through conferences, and to be inspired to get involved in the University’s student societies, such as Amnesty International, Medsin, UNICEF on Campus, and Friends of Medecins Sans Frontieres. Southampton Hub has also been working to connect and support these groups, by offering publicity through a weekly newsletter, The Week - a model shared across the Student Hubs network - and through the Southampton Hub website, which gives local student societies a platform to promote their events and activities among the student community. In Southampton, the Hub is looking forward to growing and developing in the coming year and, in particular, is planning to host a student restaurant to highlight the issues surrounding food waste, poverty and justice, whilst providing healthy meals from surplus and waste food. Southampton Hub also hopes to facilitate more students finding placements as interns in ethical organisations through the Student Hubs Ethical Internships scheme, as a way of building up the tangible services available to students through the Hub. Southampton Hub will also be working to forge stronger links with local stakeholders and within the community in the coming year.
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“I've been at university for four years and attended hundreds of lectures in my life. I've never experienced anything like [the IDC 2010] today, it completely blew my mind. I've never been so inspired, motivated and hungry to want to make a difference. Southampton Hub you are amazing.” Viraj Bharambe, 4th year Medical Student, Southampton University
International Development Courses Southampton Hub Team Aanand Vibhakar, Nathan Hayes, Alice Arrenberg with: IDC 2009 team Nick Beall, Danny Hutley, Chris Pidgley, Megan Ledger IDC 2010 team (in photo) Chris Arrowsmith, Abi Lieberman, Amelia Cutts, Will Nevard 2010 Hub team Sophie Eckersley, Aliceja Fisher, Vadims Sondors, Aanand Vibhakar
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Southampton Hub has hosted two international development courses, and has worked with peers and partners to deliver inspiring events, which have received great feedback from students. Southampton Hub’s 2009 IDC had the title ‘Sustainable development and globalisation: looking at a more fragile world’ and provided students with the opportunity to hear from speakers such as Head of Oxfam GB Research and author of ‘From Poverty to Power’, Duncan Green, discussing the idea that as traditional social, economic, political and cultural barriers in our world are lifted, local changes in one part of the world can increasingly transform the lives of distant people. In March 2010, Southampton Hub worked with Medsin and MSF to deliver the World Health and International Development Conference (WHIDC), with the title of ‘Development and health in perspective’. Arguably one of the best-attended one day student conferences on this topic, and supported by the MDU, the 2010 WHIDC attracted 100 students to discuss global health issues at the heart of development. The conference aimed to look at inequality, socio-economic determinants of health, conflict, health interventions and solutions, and the interaction of these complex aspects. Students enjoyed a keynote address from senior DfID health advisor, Rob Yates, varied workshop sessions, and a plenary debate on the main challenges to a healthier world featuring: Firoze Manji, Development Consultant, author, and Advisor on Human Rights in Africa; Benny Dembitzer, Development Consultant, Economist and Author; and Aubrey Meyer, Director and Founder of the Global Commons Institute.
Student Hubs Review 2OO8-1O
InterAction Over the past two years, Student Hubs has begun to coordinate InterAction, which brings together national charities operating in universities to share best practice, coordinate joint initiatives and facilitate collaboration. The group includes charities such as UNICEF, Amnesty International, War on Want, the Fairtrade Foundation and many more. InterAction members support HE and FE students to do campaigning, fundraising and take action on local, national and international issues. They also provide resources to existing groups as well as networking opportunities with other campaigning student groups across the country. Coordinating InterAction has given Student Hubs the opportunity to map the support given to campus groups from central offices, and to work with others to build the student charity sector.
New Voters New Politics Panel Speakers:Â - Hilary Benn, Labour Party - Nick Herbert, Conservative Party - Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrats - Darren Johnson, Green Party Chair:Â Adam O'Boyle, Director, Student Hubs
New Voters New Politics Just before the 2010 General Election, Student Hubs, 14 other InterAction organisations and 250 student activists came together to debate with senior figures from all the major political parties. Topics for the evening were social and environmental issues, including international development, human rights, global health, climate change, corporate responsibility and democratic participation. The evening followed a Question Time format, giving young people the opportunity to submit questions to the panel in advance. Students then used pink and grey cards showing their agreement or disagreement during the event, as a means of gauging the collective response to the policies discussed.
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Hubathons and the Student Hubs network A large part of operating Student Hubs since launching in 2008 has been working on bringing together our network of Hubs, to share skills, experiences and best practice, and to both learn from one another and build economies of scale. There is much that is shared between our local Hubs, such as the website platform, ways of working, resources for our member groups, communications systems and governance. Facilitating this, we have had a member of staff responsible for Hub Support, and have organised bi-annual weekend training sessions, Hubathons. Hubathons have been a great opportunity to get students together from each of the Hubs, some of whom haven’t met each other despite attending events in other locations. Student Hubs staff and student volunteers have then shared the delivery of training, which covers skills relevant to running a Hub such as publicity, organisation, fundraising, and visioning. Hubathons have been held at times of the year which reflect key planning and strategy phases, and often include annual planning sessions and monitoring and evaluation.
Example Hubathon Sessions Skills Sharing on writing The Week, running conferences, using social media, engaging with member groups, pitching and handovers. Developing national strategy and working on our governance model Local Hubs’ annual planning whilst sharing activities across the network Monitoring & Evaluation to measure our impact and learn from our experiences
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Student Hubs Review 2OO8-1O
Historical Research The Institute for Volunteering Research and Student Hubs are carrying out research on Students, volunteering and social action: Histories and policies to inform current and future policy and practice. This initiative aims to fill gaps in the history of student volunteering and social action in the UK and to locate its evolution in the broader context of nineteenth and twentieth century social, economic and political history. We hope that this work will inspire and inform future activities both at Student Hubs and within the wider student volunteering sector. With additional funding from St John's College, Oxford and the Economic History Society we have carried out a literature review, conducted a witness seminar and are planning for a one-day symposium in November 2010. Why are we doing this? Student volunteering in the UK has a long history, from university settlements and missions in the nineteenth century to workcamps for the unemployed in the interwar period to CND protesting and Student Community Action after the Second World War. Despite recent research and policy interest in volunteering by university students as well as in the broader topic of how higher education institutions can improve their public or community engagement, the history of the movement remains a relatively underexplored field. What research there has been has tended to focus on the university-sponsored settlements and missions, leading to neglect of other forms of social service and voluntary action developed by students. It is left to institutional histories of individual universities or colleges to record the fundraising, voluntary social service or campaigning activities of their students, although usually without placing such activities in broader historical context.
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Finances 2OO8-O9
For the 11 months ending 31 July 2009 INCOME
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Incoming resources from generated funds Corporate grants
30,000
Charitable foundation grants, private donations and gifts in kind
10,889
Colleges and University donations
15,237
Incoming resources from charitable activities Projects
5,256
Speaker events, conferences
4,571
Total Income
65,953
EXPENDITURE Salaries and benefits
60,907
Office rent and charges
8,306
Website, brand and publicity
7,436
Conferences and speaker meetings
4,934
Office supplies and resources
2,425
INCOME
Staff cost (recruitment, training, travel)
1,721
Incoming resources from generated funds
Total Expenditure
85,729
Profit/Loss
-19,776
Finances 2OO9-1O
For annual accounts, please contact us by emailing info@studenthubs.org. ÂŁ
Corporate grants
78,500
Charitable foundation grants, private donations and gifts in kind
38,250
Colleges and University donations
21,380
Incoming resources from charitable activities Projects
13,884
Speaker events, conferences
15,409
Total Income
167,423
EXPENDITURE Salaries and benefits
98,058
Office rent and charges
12,986
Website, brand and publicity
7,773
Conferences and speaker meetings
24,352
Office supplies and resources
1,738
Staff cost (recruitment, training, travel)
20
5,147
Total Expenditure
150,054
Profit/Loss
17,369
Whilst we have seen much success and learnt an enormous amount over Student Hubs’ first two years, there is still much work to be done. Expanding Over the next year, we will be expanding to a neighbour University, Oxford Brookes. An exciting development, the founding of Brookes Hub will shape our experience of operating two Hubs, in two universities, yet in the same city. It is particularly exciting to be rolling out the Hub model once more, as we did in 2008, by bringing the network together to learn from one another, share best practice and generate ideas for the future.
Student Hubs Team Founders Adam Grodecki, Adam O’Boyle, Rachel Stephenson, John Mellor
Developing Whilst expansion is on the cards, we will also be continuing to develop and strengthen our existing Hubs. We have great plans to introduce Bristol’s student restaurant activities in Southampton, to bring Oxford’s speaker event model - The Series - to Cambridge, and for all the Hubs’ social and environmental conferences to come together to share their strategic vision. In each Hub location, we will also be working even more closely with key local stakeholders - such as Student Unions, local volunteering centres, Careers Services, Universities and local councils - to map how the Hubs can deliver impact in the most effective way.
Staff 2OO8 - 1O Andrew Bartley, Ally Crichton, Sara Fernandez, Araddhya Mettha, Cosanna Preston
Sustainability It is ever more important that Student Hubs becomes financially sustainable in an uncertain climate. Over the coming year, we will be working to develop our income-generating activities, whilst embedding financially sustainable practices and delivering micro-finance support for member groups. Furthermore, during the summer of 2010, Oxford Hub’s sister social enterprise went under offer on a building in the centre of Oxford. The new premises (above left) will act as a physical base for Oxford Hub’s activities, including speaker events and film screenings as well as office space and meeting rooms. Having a central location will enable Oxford Hub to become a central part of Oxford's community, providing a space dedicated to facilitating more students doing more good, and will contribute significantly to the future financial sustainability of the organisation.
Interns & Volunteers Jennifer Allen, Jaspal Aiden, Alan Beverly, Laura Criddle, Peter Eccles, Alex Flint, Annabelle Gold-Caution, Rachel James, Ruth King, Nithya Natarajan, Sarah West
National Initiatives As well as working through our local Hubs, Student Hubs will be growing national initiatives over the coming year as well. Building on the success of our social entrepreneurship, international development and climate change conferences, Student Hubs will be offering a student conference focussed on social action and working in local communities. This will give students from across the network and more widely the opportunity to come together to learn skills, debate key issues and be inspired to make a positive impact in their community.
With thanks to our local Hub Advisory Boards, and photographer Tom Bradley (www.tom-bradley.com)
Student Hubs will also be working to roll out the Ethical Internships scheme, which has thus far been focussed in Oxford, more fully across the network. We are looking to support a cohort of 30 exceptional students as interns in ethical organisations over the summer break of 2011. We will also continue to contribute to research and debate on student social action, as a way of informing our future activities and strategy.
Trustees Jamie Hartzell, Tris Lumley, John Mellor, Laura Robson (Chair: Adam Grodecki)
Student Hubs Review 2OO8-1O
Future
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Thank you To all our wonderful supporters and partners - without you we couldn’t hub. AKSWard | Alexis Ettinger, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship | Andrea Siret, Oxford Brookes University Customer Relationships Manager | Barclays Capital | Berman Guedes Stretton | Bristol SCA | British Red Cross | Brooke Williams, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship | Cambridge Student Community Action | Cambridge University Careers Service | Cambridge University Community Affairs Office | Cambridge University Students' Union Ethical Affairs | Cliff Prior, UnLtd | Clifford Chance | COIN (Climate OUtreach and Information Network) | Dan Lehner, UnLtd | Daniel Baltzer, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment | David Gold, Prospectus | Emily Rees, Southampton University Students' Union | Ethical Property Company | FoodCycle | George Gabriel | Georgina Brewis, Institute for Volunteering Research | Groupspaces | Hana Graham, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship | Ian Curtis, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford | Ian Nolan, InEvents | Ian Steed, Humanitarian Centre | Jim Campbell, Oxford City Councillor | John Muddiman, University of Oxford | Jonathan Jenkins, UnLtd | Lizzie Gross, Community Volunteering Coordinator, Southampton University Career Destinations | Man Group plc Charitable Trust | Mark Hill, MDH Ventures | NACUE | National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement | Oxford Union Society | Oxford University Careers Service | Oxford University Students' Union | Pamela Hartigan, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship | Power 2010 | Professor Andrew Hamilton, Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford | Rhiannon Horsley, UnLtd | Richard Hardiman, Pulse Print | Richard Jarman, Public Affairs Directorate, University of Oxford | Said Business School, University of Oxford | Sue Holton, Oxford Brookes University Careers Centre | The Funding Network | TILT | Tim Hartley | University of Bristol Students' Union | University of Oxford and its colleges | UnLtd | v | Vaults & Garden | Venturesome | Volunteering England | WiSCV Thank you also to all the wonderful speakers who have enriched our events and are too numerous to acknowledge here. In bold: Organisations providing Student Hubs with funding or donations in kind.
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Photo credits All photos credited to Student Hubs, except the following: 08 Tom Bradley 10 [all images] Tom Bradley 12 [Right] Rob Judges 14 [Middle] Giulio Morello and Sonia Andolz 17 [all images] Tom Bradley 23 Tom Bradley
+44 (0) 1865 403 352 www.studenthubs.org info@studenthubs.org twitter: @studenthubs The Old Music Hall 106-108 Cowley Road Oxford OX4 1JE Student Hubs is a registered charity in England and Wales, number 1122328
With thanks to our supporters: