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Bank It reaches 11,000 hours as students get digging during Student Volunteering Week

Students from the University of Gloucestershire have prepared the Park campus allotment for spring as part of national Student Volunteering Week.

On Wednesday, 24 February students – alongside local residents and staff – got together for a drop-in allotment dig at the university’s Park campus. The freezing temperatures may have made it more difficult, but that didn’t diminish spirits as they got stuck into planting potatoes ready for spring.

During the week, which ran from 22 – 28 February, the Bank It initiative set up by the university and its Students’ Union (SU) reached 11,000 volunteering hours as it aims to record 18,000 hours by the end of 2015-16 academic year.

In additional to the drop-in dig, the Students’ Union organised a food bank collection for Cheltenham Foodbank and supported Random Acts of Kindness Day where they left items such as sweets and chocolate bars with a message in a variety of locations as a random surprises for fellow students. Students were encouraged to tweet their messages using #positiveglos. The university also hosted a Volunteering Fair which saw a large number of local organisations such as Girl guiding and the Pied Piper Appeal speaking to students about volunteering opportunities in the local community.

Hope Fawsitt, Students’ Union Community Officer, said: “Many students give their time to voluntary causes in the local community and beyond. Making space for some voluntary work can really add value to a student’s overall university experience, so the Students’ Union has been delighted to be involved in Student Volunteering Week this year.”

Cathy Green, Volunteering Officer at the University of Gloucestershire, said: “The allotment dig was a great success. We had a wonderful mix of students and local residents getting involved and I’m pleased to say that despite the freezing conditions we managed to plant potatoes and dig over an entire vegetable patch.”

Organisations who have volunteering opportunities for students can email: studentvolunteering@glos.ac.uk.