Welcome to the Birmingham Newman Volunteering Award.
As a Catholic University, we seek to make a positive difference to individuals and communities, we recognise that our students make a valuable contribution to their local communities by sharing their skills, knowledge and experience with others through volunteering.
This Award allows you to record volunteering hours that you do, above and beyond those accredited as part of your course, to achieve a Newman Volunteering Certificate.
The Newman Volunteering Award supports you to successfully manage volunteering independently and develop your knowledge, skills and experiences which will contribute to your future employability and success upon graduation.
You can receive a Newman Volunteering Award for each separate volunteering placement you carry out during your time at the university, if it meets certain criteria.
You can receive a:
Newman Bronze Volunteering Award for 20 hours
Newman Silver Volunteering Award for 50 hours
Newman Gold Volunteering Award for 100 hours
Newman Platinum Volunteering Award for 200 hours.
Awards are given on an annual basis, with the validation period covering 1 June one year to 31 May the following year.
What is volunteering?
From the many definitions of volunteering available Birmingham Newman University recognises volunteering as follows: “Volunteering is when someone spends unpaid time doing something to benefit others.
Helping your close friends or relatives isn’t volunteering. But doing something to benefit the environment (and through that, other people) is. Volunteering can be formal and organised by organisations, or informal within communities. It should always be a free choice made by the person giving up their time.” (National Council for Voluntary Organisations – NCVO 2023).
In addition, volunteering in this context will also aim to improve your knowledge, skills and abilities contributing to your employability and success upon graduation. Unpaid work experience already receiving academic accreditation, or undertaken to address course requirements or targets, will not be valid for counting towards a volunteering award.
Through the programme, we also aim to make a positive contribution to individuals and communities in line with our status as a Catholic University with strong values of service.
Criteria for validation
Students can apply for validation of their volunteering hours and an award that will appear on the HEAR for each volunteering opportunity they carry out, but must meet the following criteria:
Unpaid and carried out in the UK
Must be separate to their course or any other extra-curricular activity that is accredited on their HEAR. For students undertaking mandatory workplace experience, they accumulate additional hours above what their course dictates, those additional hours can count towards a Volunteering Award. Some student volunteering is already validated on the HEAR and therefore not eligible for a Newman Volunteering Award
It can be carried out in any place as long as the role involves contributing to an environment, an individual or groups other than (or in addition to) close relatives for the greater good and will in part improve the knowledge, skills and abilities of the student taking part to contribute to their employability and success upon graduation
