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Volunteers’ Week 2025: spotlight on our alumni volunteers
4 June 2025
Many individuals from our alumni community volunteer with UCL – supporting and inspiring prospective students, current students and fellow alumni. We’re celebrating everything they do during National Volunteers’ Week 2025.
Graduates from UCL take their new knowledge and expertise far and wide when they finish their studies. Throughout their lives and careers, their UCL experience continues to shape them, and our vibrant community of UCL alumni volunteers is a testament to the strength of the connection that endures.
During the 2024-25 academic year so far, alumni volunteers have given their time, knowledge and energy more than 800 times. Originating from 42 different countries and representing every faculty at UCL, these volunteers – totalling almost 500 – reflect UCL’s proud internationalism and diversity.
To mark UCL’s appreciation of these volunteers during National Volunteers’ Week 2025, Angharad Milenkovic, UCL’s Vice-President (Advancement), thanked alumni for their generosity:
“Thank you to each and every one of our alumni volunteers for choosing to give your time to prospective students, current students, fellow alumni and others in the UCL community. These interactions make the world of difference and demonstrate the generosity of our alumni. Our vibrant volunteer community plays an important role in the activities that keep UCL at the forefront of global higher education as we head towards our third century and the launch of our next philanthropic and engagement campaign in 2026.”
Gerard Jones, Senior Alumni and Supporter Programme Manager, shared his gratitude to UCL’s alumni volunteers through a short video:
The power of mentoring
For graduates who are experienced in a profession or industry, mentoring current students can be a great way to help them navigate a similar path. Mentoring is a blend of nurturing competencies, developing professional habits, and increasing confidence – helping students with similar ambitions to achieve their goals.
How one-to-one student chats make an impact
Our Alumni Chats initiative matches a UCL graduate with a student who shares a similar degree discipline or country of origin. So far this academic year, 80 current students have been matched with an alum. The purpose of the chat can be to share general tips and advice, discuss career directions, or anything else a student is looking for support on.
Here’s what some of our recent alumni volunteers had to say about participating in a student chat:
“As an alum, I enjoyed the opportunity to share advice with a first-year student on some things I wish I did differently in my first year.”
“As it happened, my career trajectory matched well with the student's current thinking – to become a physics teacher. I wish I had the opportunity to talk with someone who had already taken the path I was contemplating, when I was an undergraduate. Great scheme!"
Student recruitment: inspiring the next generation
Giving prospective students insights into UCL can be a huge help in their decision-making process. And there’s no better way to find out about UCL than speaking to a UCL alum. From the academic side to daily life as a student, these conversations make UCL come to life for prospective students.
We have volunteers supporting us with this around the world, mostly at university fairs and events. Kira Elvey is one UCL alum who regularly speaks to prospective students in the United States:
“If prospective students are interviewing for colleges and wondering which direction to go in, talking to alumni can really help them make that decision.”
Read more about Kira Elvey’s volunteering as a UCL alum in Washington D.C.
Shaping careers
The skills, expertise and knowledge gained by each UCL alum are unique. Sharing them has tangible value to current students considering their next steps after graduation. The UCL Work-Related Learning initiative is an opportunity for UCL alumni to share their experience or knowledge in an interactive setting, giving students the chance to observe real-life workplace scenarios and enhance their employability. Their experience could be specific to a faculty or subject area, or it could cover broader transferable skills.
Leora Kurtzer is a UCL alum who volunteered through the initiative this year. As a senior project manager, Leora designed and delivered a two-hour workshop on project management. She encouraged participants to apply project management frameworks to achieving any personal goal they had in their lives.
“Giving your time is a fantastic way to give back to an institution that supported you and your education.. It means a lot to students to hear about people and their careers. There’s often a narrow view of the careers out there, and you can help them realise there are millions of options. You get a lot from it as well. The questions you get help you reflect on your own career. And they’re just really nice and sweet students to talk to.”
Read more about Leora Kurtzer’s UCL experience and volunteering
Running UCL groups and networks
There are 46 UCL alumni groups around the world, which organise social get-togethers and professional networking events for alumni. This enables alumni to keep in touch with their friends, peers and UCL as an institution. These groups are run by UCL alumni volunteers, and the opportunity to connect and get together is greatly appreciated by everyone involved.
Yijin Zhang is a UCL graduate who set up an alumni group in Zhejiang province in China. The Zhejiang group runs regular sessions where alumni talk about their careers, and they do a whole range of social activities together too, including a Harry Potter-themed Easter Ball, planting trees, and watching the World Cup.
“I believe that the biggest benefit that people gain from the alumni community is the experience of meeting new people and sharing mutual campus memories, which is a really significant and lovely thing. Everyone receives some help and support in one way or another during their studies, whether it comes from classmates or teachers or the school. When the opportunity arose, I was eager to pass on the warmth I received.”
Read more about how Yijin Zhang created a UCL group
Volunteer with us
Whether you’re inspired to have a chat with a student, help at a university fair, or get fellow alumni together through a group – there are plenty of volunteering opportunities as a UCL alum. Get in touch to start the conversation about how you could become a volunteer.
Register your interest as a volunteer by completing this form.
