Volunteering alongside your studies allows you to make a positive impact in your community while connecting with others and building your skills!
As an international student in the UK, your visa may restrict the types of volunteering you can do. It is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with the conditions of your visa at all times.
Whether you’d like to help care for endangered animals or become a care aide at your community healthcare home, there are literally thousands of student volunteer opportunities available.
In addition, volunteering can benefit you in a number of ways, so what are you waiting for? Our comprehensive guide on studying and volunteering in the UK has all the details you need to get started!
What Volunteer Work Can You Do?
Volunteering with animals
Numerous volunteer possibilities exist for anyone who has a passion for animals and wishes to contribute to their protection and well-being.
In the UK, you might find employment tending to the horses and kids at a disability riding center or assisting with cleaning and feeding the animals at a nearby animal sanctuary.
For many of these possibilities, volunteers are only needed for a few hours each week. There are chances to become a pet foster caregiver if you can dedicate yourself to anything greater.
In your home, you get to assist in caring for the animals owned by women and children who are fleeing domestic abuse. If you’d like to help larger, more exotic animals, there are plenty of options for wildlife and marine conservation.
Volunteering abroad
If you want to travel the world and do something good for it at the same time, there are plenty of possibilities to volunteer abroad.
You can surf and snorkel your way around Australia while helping with environmental conservation efforts. You can also watch the sunset over the Taj Mahal before teaching English to Tibetan refugees.
Thus, you can combine helping others with having thrilling adventures and making amazing memories.
Volunteering with children
If you’re looking to study for a career in care or teaching, then volunteering with children can help you gain valuable experience and develop your skills.
You can also do anything, from helping children learn key skills and have fun by being a Scout Leader to becoming a volunteer tutor and assisting children with learning difficulties if you’re a bit of a math whiz.
If you’re looking for opportunities abroad, you could volunteer to help build new schools in places such as Africa and Indonesia.
Online volunteering
Yes, as strange as it may seem – this is actually a thing! If you want to help others but want to do so from the comfort of your home, you can.
This way, you might only get to meet a few individuals, which limits the benefits of volunteering as a student. But it can be a way to gain invaluable skills and experience for your CV.
For instance, if you’re looking to pursue a degree and career in marketing, volunteering as an online marketing assistant working from home could be a great addition to your CV.
It could even lead to a permanent job. This is only just a snippet of the kinds of opportunities you’ll be open to.
Fundamental Things to Consider Before Volunteering
Volunteering is great, and you should feel proud of helping others. However, it would be best if you never did so at the risk of your safety and security or at the risk of taking on too much and burning yourself out.
Think about how much time you can spare
If your availability is limited to one or two hours each month, avoid applying for a job that needs daily attendance. Plan your volunteer activity around any other upcoming or ongoing commitments in your life, such as examinations, vacations, or other work obligations.
It’s important to keep in mind that volunteering can be physically and mentally taxing. Even though you might want to lend a helping hand as much as you can, remember to set aside time for enjoyment and relaxation.
You deserve that for being so excellent!
The costs
You can volunteer your time free of charge to assist others. However, the costs of volunteering might go far beyond your time investment.
The cost of getting to work, purchasing food, or purchasing any supplies (such as clothes appropriate for outdoor volunteer work) can add up. Additionally, many options for gap years in the UK can cost £2,000-£3,000 or more, which you would need to pay for yourself.
Before committing to anything, find out from the organization what is covered and whether you will be compensated for any expenses in exchange for your time.
Your health and safety
If you intend to volunteer while studying, you should consider your health. Consult your general practitioner for advice on staying safe and any shots you may require.
Consider your safety even if your volunteer work is limited to your community. If you want to work outdoors with animals or with susceptible individuals, ensure you conduct adequate research and understand the potential risks involved.
Please speak with the groups overseeing the projects to learn more about their risk assessments and volunteer safety protocols.
Reasons to Volunteer as an International Student in the UK
Strengthens your university application and CV
Volunteering as an international student can make a big difference on your resume in the eyes of prospective employers. It’s also a fantastic addition to your university application form.
It presents you as proactive, dependable, and enthusiastic—qualities that companies value in workers. Additionally, volunteering enables you to obtain priceless experience that advances your professional goals.
For instance, volunteering in a hospital or assisted living facility can provide you with invaluable practical experience if you’re studying medicine.
If you’re training for a marketing or sales position, working for a charity as an event coordinator or donation collector may benefit you.
It also equips you with other practical “soft skills,” like leadership, communication, collaboration, and handling extremely private information.
You may even find you can fast-track your career (and your salary!) to a higher level than other graduates – especially if you volunteer in positions where you are actively managing or leading others.
Equips you with new skills
Whether it’s developing your cooking skills at home or learning carpentry by helping to build schools in the UK– volunteering enables you to learn skills that, in most cases, you’d have to pay to know otherwise.
Plus, you’ll learn transferable skills and may discover you can pick up skills that allow you to apply for jobs that you didn’t think you could before.
Try out different careers by volunteering
Are you considering a career in teaching but are wondering if it’s the right fit for you? One way to get there is through volunteering. You will have the opportunity to try out new jobs and, occasionally, jobs unrelated to the one you are studying for.
As a result, you might find that you appreciate your volunteer work so much that it motivates you to pursue an entirely different professional path than the one you had originally intended.
If the organization you volunteer for finds you to be competent enough to offer you a job, volunteering may lead to paid employment.
Meet new friends and experience unique cultures
Volunteering in a distant location frequently involves being part of a close-knit community that gets together often. Building priceless memories of working together to improve the world can deepen your relationship with other volunteers.
Even if you are volunteering in the UK, you will have the opportunity to meet a wide range of new individuals from different walks of life.
It’s a chance to experience new cuisines, pick up new languages, and discover other people’s traditions and cultures—all of which can improve you as a person.
Allow you to network
Volunteering allows you to connect and make more than simply new friends. Opportunities for volunteering are frequently available to individuals of all ages.
Volunteering with people who are already very successful in their jobs may put you in the company of people who could serve as mentors, references for your resume, or even help you land a job once you graduate from college.
Engaging in diverse volunteer endeavors might help you compile a valuable network of professional contacts that could be useful later on.
It makes you feel good
Don’t you love the feeling when you get into bed after a long day and realize that you’ve helped someone else through volunteering?
You will also feel the satisfaction of performing things you never thought you could do – like giving a speech in front of hundreds of people, encouraging them to donate, or guiding an excursion in a remote area.
It’s a form of helping others
By offering your time and effort, you can make a real difference in someone’s life!
Whether that’s helping a community get clean drinking water by building a well in their village or assisting a fellow teenager struggling with mental health issues – you can make a change for the better in so many ways.
Volunteering is a great use of your spare time—both for yourself and others in need. It’s a win-win for all.
Wrapping Up
Volunteering is one of the best ways to develop, meet new people, and learn new skills. But most of all, it’s a great way to bring a smile to someone else’s face and your own!
Remember that volunteering does not require you to sacrifice all of your free time to reap its rewards. Even if you only have a few hours a week, you can still discover ways to volunteer and change the world.
So, go out and explore the wonderful world of volunteering.