At our LSE Volunteer Awards 2022 The Dialogue Society UK was the deserving winner of LSE Voluntary Organisation of the Year. We caught up with Nuran Urkmezturk (Lead Recruitment and Fundraising Officer at the organisation), to hear more about The Dialogue Society UK’s work, and how LSE students have been contributing. 

What does The Dialogue Society UK do?

What we do really is in the title of our organisation – dialogue.
Established in London in 1999, we have been actively trying to advance social cohesion by connecting communities, empowering people to engage and contributing to developing dialogue and community-building ideas.

We do this by bringing people together through discussion forums, courses, training, capacity-buildingpublications, and outreach: operating nationwide with regional branches across the UK.
Our aim is to facilitate dialogue on a wide range of social issues. We stand for democracy, human rights, the non-instrumentalisation of religion in politics, equality, and freedom of speech.

The Dialogue Society is a fully BAME-led community organisation. We organise events and projects for the whole community regardless of occupation, race, religion, or sexuality. We are a discrimination-free organisation, and we advertise and celebrate diversity.

In addition to bringing people together across cultural and religious lines, we are concerned to bring together people from a variety of sectors, including academia, stakeholders, community, and media.

At the Dialogue Society, we understand dialogue to consist of meaningful interaction and exchange between people of diverse groups (social, cultural, political, and religious) who come together through various kinds of conversations or activities to increase understanding.

The work done by relevant professionals and volunteers within relevant sectors can significantly impact the character of society. However, while each sector plays a role in helping the community develop in a cohesive and empathic direction, communication channels between them can be lacking, and they can quickly become insular. Our mission is to bring the different sectors into a creative, constructive dialogue that will inform and enhance the work.

Dialogue Society is achieving its mission by creating spaces for people to share ideas, thoughts, and critiques openly and freely despite differences. Our vision is to bring these open and accessible discussions to the whole of the community, becoming a harmonious society where dialogue is not just about overcoming problems of our globalising world but is also acknowledged as being at the core of our human nature.

We want to be part of building a society with compassion, empathic acceptance, the ability to engage and learn from one another and positive action.

Having a human-centric approach where the belief that diversity is needed and dialogue at the core of the society, we believe, would be the best form of society to be achieved.

How do you feel to won the LSE Voluntary Organisation of the Year award?

We are so grateful to be the recipient of the award for LSE Voluntary Organisation of the Year. We are highly honoured to be recognised by such a prestigious body within the London School of Economics. This award symbolises all the challenging work and effort put into dialogue projects throughout the country by our volunteers – as a grassroots organisation, our volunteers are our anchor, and we are humbled to accept this award on their behalf.

As a charity, we are motivated to strive for the betterment of society and not expecting things in return, but recognition like this award from the LSE Volunteer Centre motivates us and inspire us to continue our work further. Boosts like this keep us going with more dedication than ever, and we are so pleased to have won and partnered with LSE Volunteer Centre!

How have LSE students volunteered in your work this year?

Our organisation was a part of the Community Engagement Programme 2022, a voluntary consultancy programme on research-based projects. The programme aimed to help charities address an internal or external challenge and offer charity solutions on the matter. A group of seven LSE students volunteered to inform the Dialogue Society about the effectiveness of our online interfaith events and to give recommendations for future online interfaith dialogues and dialogue activities. In this regard, the students had worked with different parties, interviewed individuals involved in interfaith dialogue, transcribed the data, analysed the Dialogue Society’s interfaith work, and compared the findings with the data gathered. They then wrote a pervasive and helpful report for the Dialogue Society to use and benefit from when conducting an online interfaith dialogue activity in the future.

What attitude do they bring to your organisation?

The students had been very responsive bringing life and action from the very beginning of the programme. Bringing dedication and a positive attitude to the organisation and the project, they worked closely and efficiently as a team to reach the best possible outcomes. They were highly responsible for meeting deadlines and finishing tasks on time. Their motivation, willingness, and ambition to achieve the best was very inspiring to see, this was mirrored in how they engaged with our charity and the field of dialogue. The effort they put into the report showed us the value of some of the work we have been engaged in yet never had the opportunity to reflect!

Working with the LSE students was beneficial for our organisation, and we are incredibly thankful to all volunteer students for their effort, time, and dedication.

 We could not be prouder to be part of such a fantastic scheme!

How has the Volunteer Centre helped you in recruiting these students?

After advertising for the research project, the Volunteer Centre supported us in recruiting all the students involved. The students were from various backgrounds with different experiences and skillsets. From both postgraduate and undergraduate background, students from different majors were teamed with outstanding balance by the Volunteer Centre. In this recruitment process, most importantly, all the students recruited by the Volunteer Centre were passionate about charity work – which was something we truly valued. They all were inspired by the idea of helping others and working for a greater cause. We are beyond grateful for the Volunteer Centre’s help and support from the beginning of the programme till the finish of it!

If Nuran has inspired you to volunteer, check out one of our other ongoing opportunities or book a one-to-one with David Coles, the Volunteer Centre Manager if you have more questions. And why not follow us on Twitter, and Instagram to stay up-to-date with our events and opportunities and read our blog for more volunteering tips and stories.