Student Volunteering Service publishes new blog on the SDGs

Each month the blog highlights why each SDG is important, what UCL is doing to further that Goal and how people can help by volunteering for one of the Service’s charity partners. Recent blogs have tackled SDG13: Climate Action and SDG1: No Poverty.

The 17 SDGs are the core of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Adopted by all Member States in 2015, they provide a framework for the world’s ongoing economic growth, while protecting the environment and addressing social inequalities.

The blogs are written by Zsofia Bekker, Student Administrative Assistant at the Volunteering Service. Zsofia said: “Through writing the monthly blog, I wanted to increase awareness of the SDGs among our students and let them know about ways to get involved in Agenda 2030 as individuals. I thought this was a good way to recruit more volunteers for our partners to address the problems facing our local community.”

“The Volunteering Service works with more than 400 not-for-profit organisations, which provide students with community volunteering opportunities across London,” said John Braime, the Services’ Volunteering Manager. “The vast majority of these involve addressing the challenges framed by the SDGs – something our student are increasingly keen to support outside of their studies.”

More than 2,000 UCL students participate in volunteering activity each year, with 95% of the projects helping to address one or more of the SDGs. In addition, its Student-Led Volunteering Programme gives students the chance to develop their leadership and project management skills, while running community volunteering projects that have a real impact on the lives of other Londoners. 

Recent projects have included: Project Impactive, in which teams of students designed and built a variety of assistive technology equipment to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities in London; #Zero Food Waste, that redistributed food waste from UCL’s cafes to a shelter for homeless women in west London; and a group of students who are training parents and carers in life-saving first aid skills to prevent infant deaths.

“The challenges within the SDGs are as present in the UK as they are overseas,” said Simon Knowles, UCL’s Head of Coordination (SDGs). “It is inspiring to see that our students are leading addressing the challenges outside of their studies across all of the Goals.”

Links

• Student Union UCL Volunteering Service blog
• UCL SDGs Initiative

Photo © Mary Hinkley