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Van Mildert Lake revealed from the undergrowth

It was thanks to a team of enthusiastic volunteers that Van Mildert Lake was once again revealed from its undergrowth. It took a handful of volunteers, a range of tools and a couple of day’s work, to cut down trees, weed, and tidy up the banks of the lake. With a ready supply of tea and biscuits, and a number of impressed student onlookers, it took no time at all to dramatically improve the appearance of the lake. With the weather also on side, the volunteers had a very enjoyable day and managed to achieve more than was expected. 

With the lake being such a key feature to Durham University’s Van Mildert College, it is no doubt that all students and staff living and working on the site will greatly appreciate and recognise, the hard work and dedication of all the volunteers involved in this team challenge. 

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Strong volunteers clearing the debris!

Volunteers disappearing behind the undergrowth!

What we do...

We aim to support the region by connecting with the local voluntary and community sector. Durham University offers one of the leading staff volunteering schemes in the UK and is the one of the few universities offering such an innovative community engagement programme to every member of staff.

An afternoon of gardening

It may have been a cold, frosty afternoon but that didn’t stop a group of intrepid staff and student volunteers heading out and about to support the Friends of Old Durham Gardens. Based just cross the river from Maiden Castle, the historic site dates from the 17^th century. Over recent years a group of Friends have come together to support the restoration of this fantastic site back to its former glory. Armed with spades, garden forks and secateurs our volunteers spent an afternoon clearing self-seeded shrubs and trees, pruning bushes and helping with a general tidy up.

One volunteer said: ” It was great to get staff and students together and to have a positive impact on these historic gardens. Despite the cold weather, we all worked hard to clear trees to prevent them causing damage to the old walls. The trustees of Old Durham Gardens that were there were really helpful and informative; we learnt about the history of the gardens, they showed us how to use the tools, and even gave us coffee and flapjack at the break! Hopefully we can have more staff-student challenges there as it’s a beautiful location to volunteer in.”

With the close proximity to the University and the eagerness of the Friends of Old Durham Gardens after this first event, we’ll be back as the weather gets warmer for more challenges. If you’d like to get involved let us know by contacting community.engagement@durham.ac.uk

Celebrations for the SVO Team

The Staff Volunteering and Outreach team have been celebrating over the last week as we gained the Investing in Volunteers for Employers (IiVE) quality standard from the United Kingdom Volunteering Forum. This is a huge achievement for the SVO team and Durham University, but more importantly this would have not been possible without our hundreds of volunteers who have supported activities in local communities and who assisted us during the accreditation process. So a big thank you to all our supporters and volunteers!

Over the past three years, the Staff Volunteering and Outreach programme has grown from its infancy, when it was known as the Phoenix Project to where we are today.  We now have over 430 registered volunteers, which represents over 10% of the University work force and one of most significant achievements over the past 12-months has been the increasing demand for Team Challenges.

One autumnal day back  in October 2010, senior members of the University, along with staff volunteers and Team Durham colleagues set to work, clearing the grounds and gardening at one of our local community partners. This was the first team challenge and since then our aim has been to offer two challenges a month. With demand soaring from all of our committed volunteers and word spreading across departments, we are currently exceeding this target and Team Challenges are growing in popularity. Since October, numerous volunteers have taken part in a Team Challenge.

Being optimistic, I’d like to say that Spring is just around the corner (it is after all the first day of February) and so our community partners with outdoor spaces are already beginning to think in a ‘green-fingered’ manner. We already have two team challenges lined-up, both open to staff from any departments, so this is an ideal opportunity to get-involved, give volunteering a try and meet staff from across the University. For more information about our gardening and hedge planting team challenges taking place on Wednesday 8^th February and Wednesday 21^st March get in touch with us at community.engagement@durham.ac.uk