SERC Volunteer Scheme

South Eastern Regional College’s (SERC) volunteering scheme allows employees the opportunity to take time off to fulfil volunteering responsibilities, allowing staff at the College to develop new skills all while giving back to the community and supporting something worthwhile.

Paul Smyth, Chief Human Resources Officer said; “SERC’s volunteering scheme is a great opportunity to support staff in the development of new skills from new environments that will be of benefit to themselves, their respective teams and the college. Not only will volunteering help a person in the development of new skills, but it will also provide them with new experiences, a broader outlook and appreciation of community, sense of personal achievement by contributing positively to the community, and it is also fun and social.”

David Moore from Volunteer Now said; “This is a fantastic scheme - everyone benefits from the efforts of staff giving a bit of themselves to help their community. A little effort makes a big difference and volunteers really are worth their weight in gold. A study by Deloitte found that 82% of respondents believed that morale and motivation of employees were enhanced because of participating in Employer Supported Volunteering. It boosts the profile of an employer and what could be better than getting a couple of days away from the daily grind to make a difference? Many charities are struggling at the moment to recruit, so our message to potential volunteers is Give it a Go! If you never volunteered before, you will be assured of a warm welcome, a sense of purpose and a bit of fun! If you don’t know what you want to do, just contact Volunteer Now staff on 02890 23 20 20 or search for opportunities on our website www.volunteernow.co.uk”.

SERC Partnership and Project Development Manager, Janice Cooke said; “I find volunteering very fulfilling and love being able to support organisations which have a link to my local community.  I hold several volunteering roles which keeps me busy outside of work, however over the past six years I have been a Young Enterprise NI Business Mentor on their Business Beginnings programme which is aimed at primary school children.  I absolutely love running the programme in my local primary school, and introducing the P6 and P7 children to enterprise and watching how their confidence, skills and creativity grows through the development of their business idea into a live viable business.

“Over a year ago, SERC became a member of a national UK wide initiative Good for Me, Good for FE which aims to drive a sustainable programme of community action encouraging FE staff and students to come together to participate in volunteering and fund-raising activities.” 

If you are a volunteer, please get in touch with Janice to let her know what you do, so that she can ensure your hours are attributed to the Good for Me, Good For FE campaign. If you are lecturer and any of your students are involved in fundraising or volunteering Good For Me, Good For FE certificates are available which can be issued, or, indeed Janice can help you in identifying volunteering opportunities.

SERC employees can get involved in activities that benefit individuals, clubs, charities, faith groups and the environment, linked to the College’s core activities or values. Employees must complete a special leave request form and include evidence of earlier volunteering activities. If/when approved by the employees line manager the college will match any volunteering contribution, i.e if an employee is granted two days volunteering leave, then must match this by evidencing two days’ worth of volunteering time.