The 2023-2024 academic year marks the 20th anniversary of the LSE Volunteer Centre; while a lot has changed in our 20 years of existence, something that remains consistent are the many passionate and dedicated student volunteers that we collaborate with every year. Alumni have joined us for the many phases of growth in the Volunteer Centre, from expanding the breadth and depth of charity partners and volunteering opportunities, to the creation of new student groups like the Student Volunteering Ambassadors and programmes like the Research Volunteering Scheme.
As we reflect on where we’ve come from and where we are going as a centre of knowledge for transformational impact, the Volunteer Centre would like to turn to alumni to help paint a vivid picture of the true meaning of volunteering on both the LSE experience and beyond. Therefore, we are collecting stories from LSE alumni about their memories of volunteering whilst at LSE. These stories can be with or without the Volunteer Centre. We define volunteering as any activity that involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit society. For example this could be at an NGO or charity or running an LSE society. Our goal is to share these and showcase the difference that LSE students make in our communities and how volunteering can be a transformative experience that impacts a student long after their time at LSE.
Stay tuned for more information regarding how we will be celebrating our anniversary, reflections on how the Volunteer Centre itself has changed over the past 20 years, and these alumni stories, of course!
My volunteering stint at Helen Bamber Foundation, arranged by LSE Volunteering last year, came as a god-sent given my long-standing dream of working with and for refugees at the UNHCR. The traumatic stories I heard that day not only made the harsh reality of these vulnerable populations much clearer to me, but also made me that much more motivated to advocate on their behalf and chase after my dreams. I am really grateful that I got the chance to gain a deeper insight into their lives and the sheer strength it takes to survive under such adverse circumstances, and have nothing but admiration for refugees and immigrants around the world.
Esha, thank you so much for sharing this story with the Helen Bamber Foundation. It is fantastic to hear how your volunteering was instrumental in many ways, including inspiring your own advocacy for refugee and immigrant communities. We would love it if you shared this in our alumni stories submission form which is linked in the blog. If you have difficulties with this, please email us at volunteer@lse.ac.uk!