On Tuesday 3 December, LSE played its part in this year’s #GivingTuesday along with over 3000 charities and businesses across the UK, and even more across the world. #GivingTuesday messages were tweeted by lots of celebrities and even beamed on top of the BT Tower, here in London. Together with LSESU RAG, the LSE Volunteer Centre brought #GivingTuesday to LSE… Here’s a break down of what went on!
Students gave their time to make Christmas Cards that will be donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, to decorate the wards for in-patients over the Christmas period. Whilst the Christmas tunes were playing we had over 50 students joining in to make cards that will be delivered to the local hospital.
We also explored the causes that students are passionate about giving their time, money and skills to. Students brought up issues such as the environment, rescue animals and education. We even spoke to your LSE SU Sabbatical Officers, Jack Boyd (right) and David Gordon (right) about causes close to their hearts.
Student also discussed the way in which we think about the charity sector, in a TED Talk screening and discussion session hosted by LSE Volunteer Centre manager David Coles. After watching Dan Pollata’s TED Talk (The way we think about charity is dead wrong) students discussed questions such as ‘Do more charities in a society indicate it’s flourishing or failing?’ and ‘How do we choose which charities we should support?‘.
So what now?
Keeping Giving: Whilst #GivingTuesday is one day of the year where we celebrate giving back to others, we also want to encourage and inspire everyone to give back all year round. Giving back doesn’t always equate to donating money, you can give your time or skills too. Here at the LSE Volunteer Centre, we’re passionate about students volunteering their time and you can find all of our current volunteering vacancies here on CareerHub.
Donate smart clothes: In partnership with LSE Power, we also launched our donation point for Smart Works and Suited and Booted, two charities that worked with unemployed to help them be interview ready. You can find the boxes by the reception of SAW, next to the welcome desk. What do they need?
- Smart Works: High quality women’s clothes and accessories that are appropriate for interviews. All sizes welcome, but particularly size 16 and upwards (especially flat shoes and handbags)
- Suited and Booted: Men’s shoes, cuff-links, new socks, coats, scarves/gloves, hats, unopened toiletries, suit bags, belts and pocket squares, all appropriate for interviews.
Get ready for Student Volunteering Week: Yes, it’s back! During Week 4 of Lent Term (10-16 February) we’ll be celebrating all of the amazing student volunteering that goes on at LSE and providing lots of opportunities for students to get involved. Get in contact if you want to be involved this year, by emailing volunteer@lse.ac.uk, or sit tight for more information.
If we’ve inspired you to volunteer, check out one of our other 200+ ongoing opportunities or book a one-to-one with David Coles, the Volunteer Centre Manager if you have more questions. If you are short on time, then take a look at the one-off opportunities that will return for Michaelmas Term 2019, organised by the LSE Volunteer Centre. And why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up-to-date with our events and opportunities and read our blog for more volunteering tips and stories.
