Looking for something new in your new year? We have several volunteering projects for you to get in involved in! Our projects are a great way to develop new skills and meet other students. If you want any more information, please email suvolunteering@uclan.ac.uk

Mental Health Matters Project

Volunteers on this project can use their experience of mental health to change the way people think and act about mental health.

We need your help to change the way people think and act about mental health problems. Join thousands of campaigners in workplaces, schools, communities and online who are making stigma and discrimination a thing of the past. This project brings students together to run events that promote positive approaches towards mental health.

Community Fridge Project

The Community Fridge is a space where anyone can exchange food that would otherwise go to waste. Run by local volunteers, many fridges also provide a positive social space for local visitors to learn more about food, sustainable eating, growing your own and eating on a budget.

We are now looking for a team of volunteers to help set up and run the Community Fridge. The roles will be varied, from sourcing surplus food locally, to stocking the fridge and keeping it up to date, to marketing and branding. You can get involved as much or as often as you want.

Forget Me Not Project

Join us and become an Alzheimer's Society Dementia Friend and take part in a range of activities and events designed to make our community more dementia friendly.

Through the Forget Me Not project, you will engage the rest of the University student body to become Dementia Friends and work together to shape the project however you would like. You can be involved with this project in several different ways! It could be recruiting more Dementia Friends, organising fundraising events, or even running events for local people in care homes. All volunteers will receive a Dementia Friend information session to make sure you're fully trained on how to help society become more dementia friendly.

Craft and Food Fair

Our Craft and Food Fair project has been running for many years now to give students the opportunity to work with local companies to create three events a year.
There are several different roles you can take on such as research, planning and promoting the market, liaising with stallholders, organising finances, and ensuring the smooth running of the market on the day. We also have our Student Section - so you could help source and book student businesses to attend the fair.

This type of role would suit someone looking for an exciting project to volunteer with, who likes to make their mark, and has strong organisational and team work skills. In return you will gain lots of transferable skills which will inevitably help your employability after university.

You don’t need to be available for the whole planning process to be involved, sign up online if you just want to be involved on a one-off basis or just help on the day!

Hedgehog Friendly Campus

Hedgehog Friendly Campus is a national accreditation programme funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS). Universities, FE colleges and primary schools across the UK are taking part to help to bring hedgehogs back from the brink of extinction.

If you want to get involved in any of the following activities, sign up now and we'll be in touch with when the next meeting is:

• Events e.g. litter picks, fundraising, making hedgehog houses
• Creating hedgehog feeding stations
• Hedgehog surveys
• Pond / lake audit at the Arena
• Developing the Hedgehog Highways on campus, working with the Uni's Grounds Team
• Running campaigns to make campus safer for hedgehogs
• Promoting the hedgehog friendly campus over Welcome / Freshers

One Off Wednesdays
Do you have any interest in volunteering but don’t have the time to give regularly to a volunteering project? One off Wednesdays could be the perfect thing for you! Every Wednesday afternoon we run a different volunteering opportunity that you can drop in and out of. So if you only have 30 mins to space or a whole afternoon, this is the event for you! All of our One-off Wednesdays take place in the Union café between 12pm and 3pm. See the Students’ Union what’s on page for more details.