Summary
The purpose of the Summer Volunteering Scheme is to work with the LSE Volunteer Centre’s charity partners to provide a fantastic set of volunteering opportunities for Disabled students who study at LSE. This programme is run because a small, but significant number of students report back that they cannot volunteer due to a disability or illness. To address this, in addition to working across our range of programmes and services and in collaboration with our charity partners to enhance accessibility, we offer this scheme every summer. It is run by the LSE Volunteer Centre in collaboration with LSE Careers.
The charities that join the scheme express a strong commitment to enhancing accessibility. We collaborate with charities with expertise in this area. We also collaborate with charities that seek feedback, advice and support concerning disability and inclusion.
- The scheme provides students with a safe space to talk with the LSE Volunteer Centre and LSE Careers about the volunteering roles and adjustment requirements.
- We manage the recruitment process via written applications and a round of interviews.
- The LSE Volunteer Centre and LSE Careers are on-hand throughout the summer to provide support if required.
- From 2023, we will also be offering volunteers the opportunity to meet up as a group in a social setting (optional) or be connected with other participants on the scheme who are volunteering at the same charity (optional).
Q&A
The roles that are available reflect the full range of volunteering opportunities available on our CareerHub role board. They could include volunteering in a community canteen, for example, taking care of a charity’s social media, researching for a charity, or helping a charity manage its volunteers.
All volunteering placements for the scheme are for a minimum of four weeks. The placements fall between the middle of July and the middle to end of September. Many of the start dates are flexible. Please consult this year’s role descriptions for precise information on individual roles.
All volunteering placements will be for 7-14 hours per week. Please consult this year’s role descriptions for precise information on individual roles.
Applications open at the end of April each year. Interviews will be held in June. Placements will not begin until the middle of July. For precise dates for the next scheme, consult the LSE Volunteer Centre blog, social media, and newsletters.
You do not have to provide adjustment requirements to participate in the scheme. It is your choice whether to do so. We encourage you to provide adjustment requirements if you think that you will require them. All of the charities involved in the scheme welcome adjustment requirements at any point during the recruitment or placement process. You can communicate these to the charities via us or directly with the charity.
Yes. We do not require that you have declared to the university that you are a Disabled student. However, all participants must be Disabled students. By ‘disability’ we mean a long-term condition that can have a substantial impact on your studies and/or day-to-day life. This includes conditions such as sensory impairments, mental health conditions, mobility disabilities, long-term medical conditions, specific learning disabilities, and autistic spectrum conditions.
We want to talk openly about accessibility. However, we know that concerns about anonymity persist because of societal attitudes towards disability that aren’t changing fast enough.
The LSE Volunteer Centre and LSE Careers will process your applications to the scheme. Your application form will be saved on our applications system: CareerHub. We restrict access to all applications to the scheme to a small group of people within the two departments who need to know the information contained therein in order to run the scheme. We will never use your name or any identifiable information publicly without your consent. In addition, we won’t share your information internally within our wider teams or the university except if a safeguarding reason arises.
From 2023, we will be offering all volunteers the opportunity to meet up as a group in a social setting (optional) or be connected with other participants on the scheme who are volunteering at the same charity (optional).
We offer a variety of roles each year, each providing different kinds of benefits. However, as a general rule, participation will present you with the opportunity to:
- make a social impact
- learn more about a cause you’re passionate about
- gain experience within the voluntary/non-profit sector
- provide you with insights that may affect your chosen career path
- work within a team
- put into practice knowledge and skills that you’re developing on your degree
- learn more about London and the UK
- meet new people
- enjoy yourself
- make new contacts in the professional world
- experience communicating adjustment requirements in a professional setting
If you would like to communicate about the scheme before applying, we’d love to hear from you. You can either book an appointment with Viki Chinn, an LSE Careers Consultant for Disabled Students, or Rosie Coffey, the LSE Volunteer Centre’s Programme Manager. Every year, we also offer an information event for people interested in the scheme to find out more.