Students help Guide Dogs for Student Volunteering Week

This week is national Student Volunteering Week and to mark it, Guide Dogs has been reflecting on the work that students have been doing with us during the past year.

Up and down the UK, we have students who are getting together to raise funds and awareness for Guide Dogs through Raising and Giving (RAGs) Raids, flashmobs, dinners in the dark, comedy nights and sky dives.

There are Guide Dogs societies and supporter groups forming in student unions and several RAGs are working towards our Name a Puppy (NAP) Scheme.
Some students are applying for work placements with Guide Dogs others are acting as Go Walkies or Name a Puppy Ambassadors, and helping us raise awareness for these two initiatives. We also have some who are looking to support our fundraising efforts by hosting pop up shops.

Some very creative students are hoping to have success with the Swap a Pup Challenge, where we give students a plush puppy toy which they are then tasked with swapping for higher value goods which Guide Dogs can then auction off.

So, as you can see, there are many ways students are and can engage with us.

Curtis Hickey, 20, from Lancaster University, is one of our valued students. He is a local fundraising group member, as well as helping to set up a Guide Dogs Society in the university.

"Volunteering for Guide Dogs means that I am helping to make a difference to the lives of blind and partially sighted people, but also I am able to develop the skills that graduate employers want simultaneously."

"Whilst volunteering, I have met lots of different people and had the pleasure of working alongside them. It is an experience that I would not change and urge other students to get involved as there is nothing better than the feeling of helping others."

Are you a student and would like to get involved? Get in touch with us about how you can volunteer.