National Volunteers' Week: Celebrating our alumni volunteer community
National Volunteers’ Week is here! Every year between the 1-7 June, the United Kingdom celebrates volunteers and the huge impact they have on their communities. Here at the University, this week-long event gives us the chance to say thank you to the thousands of volunteers that support our staff, students and the wider local community each year. Over the last 3 years alone, more than 2500 alumni volunteers have donated more than 18000 hours of their time to support the University.
In the past year, with the return of in-person events, we have been able to welcome volunteers back to the campus, including reunion organisers, who bring their cohorts together and create fantastic opportunities for alumni to reconnect. In particular, this spring we welcomed back the ‘Sloman Loungers’, a group of Physics alumni who graduated in the 1960s, as well as Class of 1972 German alumni.
Alumni from all disciplines have also come back to the campus to share their career stories and expertise by giving talks, workshops and masterclasses. Among them, Dr Amir Khan (MBCHB 2004) met with a group of student doctors and members of the Liverpool GP Society last autumn in the Cedar House and shared his inspirational career journey; last winter, Adé Molajo (BSc Computer Information Systems 2009) gave a presentation on blockchain, NFTs and decentralised finance for the Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Society and, this spring, Dr Joan Rodgers CBE (BA Hons Russian 1978, Hon DMus 2005) returned to Liverpool to deliver a day of music masterclasses to six Liverpool singers in the new Tung Auditorium. Many more alumni have also given their time this year to enhance the student experience at the University and help current students and recent graduates find their feet in their careers after graduation.
Alumni have also continued to support the University community online by organising events, sharing their career experiences in news articles and blog posts, and offering advice via online mentoring. In addition, among this year’s new volunteering opportunities is a new speaker series, Liverpool Leaders, which made its debut in January with a fantastic talk given by James Quincey (BEng Hons 1986) Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. Next in the series, we will be joined by Ralph Rimmer (BA Hons Economics 1984), CEO of The Rugby Football League, on Tuesday 28 June – click here to find out more.
In addition, alumni associations have continued to meet regularly and organise a variety of events in Liverpool and online. To name a few, the University of Liverpool Veterinary Alumni Association held their 2021 Barrie Edwards Memorial Lecture online in October, alumni in the Liverpool Medical Students' Society gathered for their annual alumni ball in January and the University of Liverpool Dental Alumni Association also held an alumni event in May.
Last but not least, alumni networks have continued to thrive this year. In particular, alumni in North America have been taking part in events organised by the Canadian alumni network as well as the newly re-established USA alumni network; the Nigerian alumni community has kept busy with three events happening just last December and the alumni community in China has continued to grow, with more alumni volunteering to support fellow graduates and to organise events. Just in 2022, five events have already taken place in China thanks to the support of our alumni volunteers.
It has been a busy year and we are proud of each and every volunteer who has made all of these activities and more possible. On behalf of the University of Liverpool, we would like to say a big thank you to our volunteers! Your support has a long-lasting impact and allows our students and alumni community to thrive.
Keep up with how we are marking this year’s National Volunteers’ Week by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram via @LivUniAlumni and LinkedIn via the University of Liverpool page.
If you would like to find out about the volunteering opportunities available, please contact Anna Tagliapietra, Alumni Engagement Officer, at Anna.Tagliapietra@liverpool.ac.uk.