Thank you to all of you who have volunteered as part of our student campaign this year. While it continues throughout the year - and young people remain one of the groups most at risk - the busiest weeks for our campaign are drawing to a close
Pictured above is Molly Bennett, who, along with Ed Cook, went to Brunel University this month. We've had lots of great feedback about our volunteers, and Sabiha Barakat, Student Support and Welfare Officer, said they were "absolutely brilliant".
Don't forget you can order the 'Check it, don't chance it' posters to put up in your local area by emailing us.
Volunteer round-up
Anne Cadden has been extra busy:
- She did a talk in Chester to St John Ambulance volunteers; "They were very interested and chatted lots". So much so that she's been invited back in the new year!
- She was also at Chester University raising awareness with students at their main campus.
- Anne has been distributing awareness materials over the last year - 2,000 signs and symptoms cards and 600 leaflets to 12 GP surgeries and 12 pharmacies. What a fabulous total!
Our huge thanks to Anne for all of these.
If you would like to distribute awareness materials on a regular basis in your area, get in touch and we can help you plan your campaign!
- Several volunteers went to University College London to support their vaccination clinic. Emma Hughes, Student Projects and Events Coordinator, said, "The volunteers did a great job drumming up interest from passing students. There is a big demand for another session, which we plan to run in January." Across both days, they vaccinated an amazing 184 students. Enormous thanks to volunteers Robin Luff, Gill Noble, Annette Bielesch and her sons, Sara Otty and Ed Cook.
- Lynette Adjei has been active at Solihull Sixth Form College, doing a talk there and supporting a Health Ambassador campaign day. She also spoke at an assembly for 140 students at Tudor Grange School, Solihull, distributing symptoms cards to all of them. Brilliant Lynette!
- Ian Watkinson helped out at our Family Day at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland. The event was for families who have been affected by meningitis to have fun, relax and spend time together. Staff said Ian was "a brilliant help", discreetly taking fantastic photos of the families and adding a lot to the event.
- A big thank you to Sheena Cardwell who did a talk in Hilltown, Northern Ireland. Sheena said, "I really enjoyed it - a lovely group of people who put me at ease. I was nervous but soon overcame it as they were very interested and asked loads of questions. And they made a donation!" Fabulous Sheena - and thank you!
Check your spam
We've noticed that sometimes group emails we send out are ending up in your spam. Please check and make sure to mark us as 'not spam' so you get future emails from volunteering@meningitisnow.org.
Your feedback
We are launching a new way to get feedback from you in the next few days. You should receive an email asking you to complete our simple three question survey (we use the Survey Monkey software).
It's intended to be easy and quick for you to use and a way for us to get even more feedback from you about what you have done recently, and how we can improve our service for you and your experience as a volunteer.
Welcome
We're pleased to introduce you to our new volunteer, Mandip Shergill. Welcome to our happy band!
Volunteering opportunities
Brunel University, Uxbridge awareness stand - We are looking for volunteers to run a stand at their health awareness events on Wednesday 18 December.
University College London - The college are having another vaccination clinic on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 January and we need volunteers to talk to students.
Middlesex University - Could you help at an awareness stand at Middlesex University Wellbeing Fair in Hendon on Thursday 16 January, from 10am-3pm?
Young People and Student Awareness - Send us an email at volunteering@meningitisnow.org to order 'Check it, don't chance it' posters to put up in your local area.
