Each year, to mark the day King’s was founded, alumni, staff, and students take part in the King’s Global Day of Service (GDoS), an event that sees our community participate in volunteering activities all over the world.

This year, a total of 1048 members of the King’s community volunteered as part of the initiative, contributing over 2800 hours of their time. Activities that took place as part of this month-long event included staff and students planting over 200 trees at the King’s Sports Ground, whilst the King’s Alumni Office worked with their ambassadors all over the world, supporting volunteers in 73 countries.

Making toys out of recycled materials for rescue dogs in London

Annicka Ancliff, Faculty Research Support Administrator at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, and Chloe Morgan, Wellness Coordinator at King’s Sport & Wellness, organised workshops where students, staff, and alumni could come and make dog toys out of recycled materials such as worn tshirts and old lab coats that no longer meet regulations; the toys were then donated to Battersea Cats & Dogs Home.

Chloe Morgan said: ‘As my role involves organising social wellness events for students in residences, I thought this was a perfect opportunity for students to come together for this micro-volunteering activity.’ She added, ‘Taking part in GDoS made me feel part of a community at King’s, with several departments coming together for the same goal. It was lovely to host such a wholesome event, and gave us an opportunity to introduce attendees to our volunteering platform.’

Annicka also enjoyed the event, suggesting that ‘doing something creative really opens up the mind and can improve your mental health. I felt so peaceful and happy after the sessions - it was wonderful.’

Giving back to youth communities in Chikmagulur, India

 King's Alumni Community President for Hyderabad Stephen Anurag AKC (MSc Public Policy and Management, 2020), Treasurer Har Sahay Meena IAS (MSc Public Policy and Management, 2020), Pranav Krishna (MSc Banking and Finance, 2020), Akhil Ravi (MSc Strategic Entrepreneurship, 2020) and Akash Poddar (MSc Strategic Entrepreneurship, 2020) organised their second Global Day of Service event in as many years, this time with the theme of ‘Giving Back to the Youth Communities’. At the event, which took place in Chikmagulur, Karnataka, a mobile app named ‘My Well-Being' was launched, a wall painting event was organised, and food, books and stationery were donated to local orphans. The group coordinated these events in partnership with the Yes We Can youth organisation, the Nicholas Social Welfare Society, the local district administration, and the local Women and Child Welfare Department.

Increasing access to arts and culture at The Globe Theatre in London

Marion Guerbet (Engagement Officer, Principal's Office) volunteers twice a month as a steward at Shakespeare’s Globe. The Globe relies on volunteers to keep its doors open, and volunteer stewards are the public face of the theatre: they welcome visitors during performances and ensure everyone has a safe and enjoyable experience. By doing this, volunteers ensure the Globe can carry on in its mission to make Shakespeare accessible to everyone.

‘I love welcoming people to the Globe and seeing their responses to the amazing productions that take place here... It's a theatre like no other, and I'm very grateful that I can help to keep it running smoothly’, comments Marion. ‘Volunteering helps me to unwind after a day of work, and it is great meeting other volunteers - they all know a lot about Shakespeare! We also get good perks - some free tickets to performances, a fantastic yearly volunteers' party, as well as visits to other cultural venues. I volunteered there a couple of times during Global Day of Service and logged my hours on the volunteering platform, which was very easy to do.’

Making survival blankets by using single-use plastics on campus

LaiHa Diamond, Business Support Manager for King’s Community Business Services (KCBS), hosted a workshop for students, staff and alumni to learn how to make a survival blankets using single use plastics such as clear plastic and crisp packets. She collected and cleaned the plastic required in advance of the event, and provided the irons needed to complete the process. She speaks highly of her manager, Charles Gallagher, Director of KCBS, who supports her service work by allowing her the time to deliver these workshops, and by encouraging team members to get involved too.

LaiHa said that ‘It’s great to be able to have the opportunity to deliver the crisp packet workshop and to encourage staff across King’s to take part in the Global Day of Service. It’s fantastic to have people come together to create survival blankets for the homeless.’

Raffle prize winners

All students, staff and alumni that recorded volunteering hours for March 2023 were entered into a raffle to win a voucher for an online cookery class with our King’s Volunteering partner, Migrateful. You can find out more about Migrateful online, and students and staff can sign up to volunteer with them at King’s Volunteering.

We are pleased to announce the winners of this year’s raffle are:

• Dr Anna Rebman, who volunteers with the Friends of Grove Farm. She said: 'In March this year, I led an event to get volunteers together to develop a new pond and undertake conservation work at the Grove Farm nature reserve. The new pond will help to increase biodiversity and expand opportunities for nature-based education.'
• Catalina Chirila, a second year Liberal Arts student who has been volunteering with Bow Food Bank since July 2022. ‘I love being active and I am very results oriented, so packing bags of food that would get distributed the following day gives me a great sense of accomplishment’, comments Catalina. ‘Having the chance to interact directly with beneficiaries is also very rewarding, as is seeing the immediate impact my work has on people. The team leaders are very friendly and well-organised, making it a great experience to volunteer there.’

Find out more about King’s Volunteering

King’s Volunteering is your one-stop shop for discovering opportunities and building connections with people and organisations that are driving positive change in our local, national and international communities.

From one-off events to regular volunteering opportunities, there is something for everyone. Whether it is the environment, education or mental health, King’s Volunteering can connect students and staff with an organisation and a cause that is important to them.

Sign up to King’s Volunteering to connect, discover and make a difference.

 

King’s alumni – please note that the King’s Volunteering platform is a resource for King’s staff and students. To connect with our network of alumni volunteers and discover mentorship opportunities, please visit our King’s Connect platform, or reach out to the Alumni Office directly at volunteering@kcl.ac.uk to find out about our current volunteering offering.