Blessa Porras came to UCL to study Social Sciences but soon discovered she had a flair for leadership and for engaging students in giving back to their communities.
As one of 6 project leaders with UCL’s Origami Volunteering Project, Blessa trains volunteers to do origami, helps with recruitment and administrative tasks, and organises volunteer events. The project has held events at local care homes, community centres and hospitals, including the Richard Desmond Children’s Eye Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
You can see how happy the kids get when they have their finished product, and they have a little box or paper aeroplane. They're like, "look what I made".
A final-year Social Sciences student at the IOE’s Social Research Institute, Blessa initially got involved in volunteering with the “aim of helping other people somehow, making their day a bit brighter.”
Now she’s a leader in the space, initiating impactful collaborations with the Student Social Impact team and inspiring more students to become volunteers. More students are joining and expressing an interest in the project, something Blessa is really excited about.
The project has taught me a lot about being bolder, braver. Within the UCL community, you can tell everyone is passionate about something and I just love being in that kind of environment.
Her work has had a significant impact on the local community supporting intergenerational connection and wellbeing and helping to combat isolation and loneliness. Her proudest achievement so far has been an event at UCL’s Grant Museum that she organised with staff members from the Student Union and the UCL Hospital Fun Team. Nearly 20 volunteers got involved to create origami mobiles, which were then donated to the Royal Free Hospital’s Children Ward.
Alongside the origami project, Blessa has adopted a leadership role within the Social Research Institute Society and works as Creative Editor for the Law Society, as she looks towards a future career in law.
Before that, she wants to start working on more collaborations and open the Origami project in schools, as well as improving the social side of volunteering. Looking back at where she is now, she says:
I wouldn't be where I am today, doing the things that I get to do if I hadn't tried. I'm a very anxious person. I overthink things a lot. But my parents would always tell me: "do everything, be scared, but do it anyway." You don't know if you don't try, right?
