This week is the beginning of National Volunteers’ Week, taking place from 1-7 June. Volunteer’s Week is celebrated across the UK by charities, universities, and non-profit organisations, and is an excellent time to recognise the incredible volunteering that takes place in our local communities.
Each year, hundreds of you take part in our volunteering programme by teaching English to refugees, planting trees, organising community choirs, working with community partners and more.
Our Volunteering team are marking Volunteers’ Week, on campus for the first time in two years, by hosting the Royal Holloway Volunteer Awards on Tuesday (31 May). The Mayor of Runnymede will be attending to present the Mayor’s Cup and an award for Out-of-the-box thinking. This award is made in memory of Vice Principal Bob O’ Keefe, who was a strong supporter of volunteering and actively encouraged students to get involved.
There are other ways we are celebrating volunteering and encouraging students to get involved over the next two weeks, such as the Platinum Jubilee tea party event on Saturday (4 June) and a ‘Love Your Campus’ beaver project taking place between Monday 6 - Wednesday 8 June. You can find out more about these events and more below.
I’d like to congratulate all of our student volunteers, whether you are a regular volunteer, or if you have recently taken up a role within your local community. If you have not taken part in a volunteering initiative before or would like to do more, I would encourage you to take a look at other events our Volunteering team are offering in the newsletter below.
Professor Paul Layzell
Principal