Last year’s Initi8 officer Hemal Tailor shares this special retrospective…
Last academic year was great with Initi8 volunteering. It was an amazing and fun filled trip to train all the project leaders with the skills and attributes that have contributed towards the year’s great success. The trip overall consisted of excellent opportunities for the committee members to get to know one another through team building activities, such as scrambling, rock climbing, and orienteering.
We had a wider range of projects providing students with more choice from the beginning of the year – the well established Halloween party with young carers was a great opening to the year. This year the project took place on all three campuses, so that all students, regardless which campus they were located at, are given the opportunity to take part in Initi8. This will hopefully be the beginning of another tri-campus project success, with three different children’s organisations.
Sport was another area which Initi8 one-day challenges expanded into, with football and hockey matches for charity. Each of which was a great success and is an aspect I hope that Initi8 plans to expand, so increased volunteering can be associated with more NTSU sports clubs.
The Big Sleep Out was another new project that was introduced this year to raise money and awareness for the homeless. This was a major change from our normal projects, with the long hours in the cold nights giving students a greater understanding of what homeless people go through. The self-defence project helped students to feel safer and protect themselves within a friendly environment.
These were only a few of the success stories that occurred last year, with many more projects that have made a great difference within the community and for a number of students at NTU.
Last year we had a record-breaking number of student volunteers with the one-day challenges: 74 projects, 582 opportunities filled, 377 student volunteers in total. Last year’s NTSU Volunteer of the Year was Alice Hallows who is known for her forensic projects and continuing support for over two years on the initi8 Clifton committee. Three members of the Initi8 committee also achieved the Volunteering Gold Award from Volunteering England last year. This is nationally recognised and was a great achievement for members of the initi8 committee.
Last year was not only about meeting targets but also about having some time to relax. Initi8 had a number of social events last year, including going for a post-project meals, having a BBQ in the Arboretum and closing with a great time at Alton Towers. I hope to see more of this in future years by giving students the chance to go out and have a great time with their fellow volunteers.
For all the students that have any ideas for projects, or have any organisation within Nottingham, get involved! Initi8 is always looking for new ideas and is more than willing to expand to show its support to more organisations. Let us Initi8 know so they can make your idea come to life or help an organisation that you feel passionate about.
I would like to thank all the students that volunteered during my time as Initi8 officer. I wish you all the best, whether you’ve remained at university, gone on to a placement year or, like me, spread your wings to leave Trent behind and find your place in the working world. I hope that you enjoyed your time with Initi8.
Hemal Tailor
Initi8 Officer (2009-10)
Coinciding with all these achievements, Hemal has be named volunteering legend in vinpirsed’s regional awards.
Tags: alumni, community, initi8, ntsu, retrospective, students, volunteering
