V-Bite

V-Bite 10th October 2011 Hi Everyone

Hopefully you have enjoyed the first week of Autumn term. If your timetable and energy levels permit, you might want to consider volunteering. There are lots of new volunteering opportunities (as well as the regular year round volunteering placements), some of which are briefly detailed below.

Just to remind you, this is V-Bite, the weekly Project V e-bulletin and you have received this because at some point in your life you expressed an interest in volunteering with Project V and we have added you to our mailing list.

The aim of V-Bite is to keep you up to date with volunteering opportunities (new ones come in every week) and to let you know about anything else related to volunteering that we think you may wish to know about.

APPOINTMENTS IN PROJECT V We are currently experiencing a high demand for appointments, as is usual in the Autumn term. Please be patient, don’t worry – you will get to see us, most projects recruit all year round and we have numerous volunteering opportunities.

You can book an appointment in person in the Activities Centre or or via email: projectv@sussex.ac.uk The way that we organise our appointments is that we only book appointments from MONDAYS (not before) for appointments on WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY of the following week; and from THURSDAYS (not before), we book appointments for MONDAYS and TUESDAYS. Appointment times are at 11, 12, 2pm and 3pm and you can view appointment availability on our webpage.

(This system is in place because past experience has shown us that people often do not turn up to appointments booked up any further in advance.)

NEWLY REGISTERED VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES You can use the ‘Opportunity Search’ facility on our website to get more information about each volunteering opportunity, but to give you an idea of some of the new roles registered this week, they include: 1) Creative Art Volunteer with Art In Mind – an art project where volunteers raise awareness about mental health issues through various art forms, such as painting, music, poetry, filming, photography, animation, puppetry and much more. (ID ref 192) 2) Outreach Volunteer with CaSH (Contraception & Sexual Health) - an NHS funded project to promote positive sexual health to the student population at the Universities of Brighton and Sussex, including sexual health awareness, Chlamydia screening campaigns and C-Card condom drop-ins. (ID Ref 637) 3) Development Manager or Fundraising Assistant with MOOT - a new music performance and education organisation aimed at providing opportunities for Brighton and Hove residents to get to know, appreciate and enjoy contemporary music while providing a platform for local talented artist and musicians. (ID ref 636) 4) Floating Memories Project Volunteer with Brighton Swimming Club The club has discovered a wealth of historical information in existing archives that remains unseen by and unknown to the members of the club, public and historians. Floating Memories is about properly conserving, protecting, documenting and cataloguing the existing archives and about creating new and continuing archives of the club’s more recent history.

If, having checked out the details on the website, you wish to find out more about how you can get involved in any of the opportunities detailed above, or any others that you have viewed online, view appointment availability online and then contact us on projectv@sussex.ac.uk to request an appointment.

COMMUNITY PROJECTS ON CAMPUS! Every now and again we invite projects registered with us onto campus to talk directly to students about their volunteering opportunities. This is a great opportunity for you to find out more about volunteering with these specific projects.

This term we have arranged the following: 1) Sussex Pathways is a multi-faith project supporting offenders prior to, upon and after release from prison. The project engages the enthusiasm, dedication

and commitment of volunteers from the local community, training them as social mentors to offenders.

If you would like to find out more about mentoring with Sussex Pathways, come along to a special event:

 Tuesday 18th October  6-9pm  Meeting House Lecture: Prison – Mentoring & You? Given by Dr G.Ashenden (Senior Lecturer & University Chaplin) Followed by talks from: Caroline Mayhew, (Founding Trustee and Chair of Sussex Pathways), Adrian Martin (Sussex Pathways project manager) and a Sussex Pathways mentor and mentee.

Project V staff will be at the event to give you more information about how you can volunteer with Sussex Pathways through Project V.

2) Groundwork Solent work to deliver projects for people, places and prosperity through six strategic themes: Communities (Building stronger neighbourhoods), Land (reconnecting people with their surroundings), Employment (training for work and supporting enterprise), Education (learning, citizenship and sustainability), Business (integrating the economy and the environment, Youth (realizing young people’s potential:

 Tuesday 25th Oct  Library Square  11am – 2pm You can chat with workers and volunteers from Groundwork Solent and, if you wish, have a go at some of the inclusive games that the project uses to create and strengthen social bonds e.g. skittles, space hopper and sack races, tug of war.

This opportunity is open to all students – no previous experience is required, you just need an interest in working with people. Full training and support is given.

WANT TO SHAPE THE STUDENTS’ UNION AND UNIVERISTY? The Students' Union is a student-led, democratic organisation. Every year students are elected to a variety of positions to represent the views of students within the Students' Union and University.

Becoming an officer or rep is a great way of getting involved with decision making in the Students' Union and University and helps ensure that the views of students are heard.

There are a variety of roles available so whether you'd like to help improve your course as a Student Rep, oversee the direction of the Students' Union as a Student Trustee, represent a group of students as a Representative Officer or any of the other opportunities available to you, nominate yourself now!

There is training and support available for all positions and no experience is necessary.

You can find out more about the positions, other positions elected later in the year and elections in general at www.sussexstudent.com/elections That’s all for this week. Any questions, comments, concerns, just get in touch.

Michaela Rossmann and Naomi Ashman Volunteering Manager & Volunteer Placement Co-ordinator Project V, Students’ Union Activities Centre 1st Floor, Falmer House University of Sussex projectv@sussex.ac.uk www.sussexstudent.com/volunteering (01273) 873387 (If you would like to be unsubscribed from this mailing list, please e-mail projectv@sussex.ac.uk )