Alex Kay, a Cardiff Met graduate tells us how his volunteering experience helped him to get a full-time job. Alex was an Environmental Health student at Cardiff Met from 2011-14 and volunteered with Environmental Champions whilst at University. Environmental Champions is a voluntary action group that works on sustainability based initiatives and campaigns.
Alex Kay, a Cardiff Met graduate tells us how his volunteering experience helped him to get a full-time job. Alex was an Environmental Health student at Cardiff Met from 2011-14 and volunteered with Environmental Champions whilst at University. Environmental Champions is a voluntary action group that works on sustainability based initiatives and campaigns.
I became an Environmental Champion volunteer in 2012 because I was interested in environmental issues and I wanted to improve my local area. In a year and a half, I carried out over 70 hours of volunteering work, worked with different public and private organisations, made new friends, and added a lot of skills to my CV!
My favourite part of volunteering was working with other people from different walks of life. You get the opportunity to work with students from different universities and on other courses, members of the public and different organisations such as South Wales Police and City of Cardiff Council.
I took part in public engagement events such as community walkabouts, Fair Trade and recycling stands, and action events such as litter picks, beach cleans and community gardening.
My favourite events were the beach cleans as I had the chance to visit an area outside of Cardiff and make friends whilst making a difference to the area.
Volunteering helped me gain skills that have been vital for preparing for life after University. The skills I have learnt as a volunteer could not be taught as part of academic life, but are as important as anything taught in a classroom. Speaking face to face to residents on community walkabouts helped me improve my communication skills, skills that are vital in my field of work. I had a lot of fun doing something to improve the area that I live in, as well as the lives of other students and residents in the area. The Environmental Champiosn project is a great opportunity for students to give back to the community as well as gain skills that will give them an edge in the jobs market after they leave University.
In a year and a half, I carried out over 70 hours of volunteering work, worked with different public and private organisations, made new friends and added a lot of skills to my CV. The skills I have learnt have helped me gain a full time, permanent role at the City of Cardiff Council.
I would encourage students to volunteer with the Environmental Champions so they can make a difference to Cardiff, gain new skills, make new friends and get the most out of their time at Univeristy.
Environmental Champions Project Background
Environmental Champions is a voluntary action group that works on sustainability based initiatives and campaigns. The project is a partnership between Cardiff Digs, Student Volunteering Cardiff (SVC), Cardiff Met Students’ Union, City of Cardiff Council, South Wales Police and Keep Cardiff Tidy with the aim of making Cardiff a cleaner, greener, safer, more optimistic place filled with civic pride. The group is working on action based initiatives around waste and recycling, energy efficiency and housing, sustainable travel, fair-trade, environmental tasks including river clean ups, and many more exciting ideas!
For more information and to sign up to the project please email Amy: acampbell@cardiffmet.ac.uk
