Boris Johnson MP launches Student Volunteering Week 2006
Howard Lake | 28 February 2006 | News
Student Volunteering Week, launched on February 20th, is an annual week of events around the UK that marks the achievements of student volunteers and the value of volunteering to the community.
The week seeks to encourage students to volunteer and highlights the opportunity that this provides for individuals to develop teamwork, leadership, time management and other essential skills and apply them in a ‘real world’ environment.
Organisers also hope to highlight the values of volunteering to employers and to encourage them to support the activity amongst prospective employees.
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A recent survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters showed that many graduates lack the basic skills for the workplace. Similarly, a YouGov survey 2 for Edge, which is campaigning for increased practical learning in the education system, found that 71 per cent of employers said that they would ‘always’ or usually consider candidates under 25 with poor exam grades but with a lot of work-related experience.
Boris Johnson MP, shadow minister for Higher Education, who launched Student Volunteering Week on February 20th, recently said: “Too many graduates are simply not ready for the workplace, and it is terrifying to discover that some of them cannot even have a sustained conversation”.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.