Staff, students, and alumni have been taking part in a range of volunteering activities across the world as part of King’s Global Day of Service which took place on Saturday 25 March. It’s a great way for everyone to collectively give back and live out King’s ‘ethos’ of service, making a difference in local and national communities.

Below Steph White, Acting Head of Student Lifecycle Events & Engagement shares an update on her team’s service time activity with the Spring Community Hub:

Recently our team volunteered with the Spring Community Hub using our service time. Service time is a great way to give back to the local community and our team has just finished a busy work period running Welcome to King’s and our winter graduation ceremonies.

This was a great opportunity to celebrate the end of this busy period, to take time out of the office, and to get together as a team. I was inspired to volunteer at a food/clothes bank from a previous colleague who regularly volunteered at a similar organisation and said what a fulfilling opportunity it was. I found out about the Spring Community Hub through King’s Volunteering.

They are based near our Denmark Hill Campus, and we volunteered to support their clothes and food bank initiatives. I worked closely with Omotola Wonuola, Business Support and Outreach Coordinator, to organise the day.

As well as instructing us with an on-the-day task to support the Hub, she made sure to induct us properly to understand the organisation and it was great to hear about all the amazing work Spring Community Hub do.

"It was a great opportunity to learn about some of the support on offer for those who need it, while also giving our time as a team to contribute to the work they do."– Becky Richens, Senior Student Lifecycle Events & Engagement Officer (Graduation)

For our service day, we focused on supporting the clothes bank to help sort out new and old clothes for children and adults. It was a great way to work as a team to complete a task where we were benefiting those in need.

"Having the privilege of service days to dedicate time towards the community is something special and unique to King’s."– Gurdeep Sheri, Senior Student Lifecycle Events & Engagement Officer (Welcome)

In the current cost of living crisis, more people are having to turn to food and clothes banks to support themselves and their families. Being in a position that we can support others is a privileged one, and something we shouldn’t forget when thinking about volunteering our time – we can create positive change.

Whilst we were there as a group, there were lots of other volunteers supporting too. I highly recommend for all staff to use their free time, and their Service Time, to support initiatives such as Spring Community Hub. It was a positive experience, and we will definitely return in the future!