National Volunteers Week: Four ways to volunteer and support the University of Liverpool community
This National Volunteers Week, we’re celebrating alumni who help our University community thrive. Here are four ways you can get involved, alongside stories from volunteers already supporting our community.
1. Become a mentor
Our alumni mentors help students build confidence, explore career options, and navigate life after graduation. We offer mentoring opportunities across the University, including programmes in the Management School, the School of Law and Social Justice, and LivUni Mentors, our online mentoring programme delivered in partnership with the Careers & Employability team.
We spoke to a mentoring pair from the School of Law and Social Justice’s Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology (SSPC) Mentoring programme about the impact mentoring can have on both students and alumni.
Tawhidur Pir (Criminology, 2021)
“Since graduating, I’ve been fortunate to gain valuable work and life experience that I felt could help current students. I know I would have personally appreciated hearing from alumni similar positions when I was at university.
"I choose to share these experiences and insights with students through volunteering. Speaking with students from different backgrounds and answering questions they might not feel comfortable asking elsewhere has been incredibly rewarding.
"Mentoring Isabel on the SSPC mentoring programmes has been my favourite volunteer experience by far because it feels so personal and meaningful.”
Isabel Holden (third-year Criminology student)
“Thinking about what comes after graduation is always on my mind. I’m interested in joining the Police through the Degree Holder Entry Programme, so when I found out Tawhidur had previously worked with Merseyside Police, I was excited to be part of the mentoring programme!
"Over the past months, Tawhidur has supported me through the application and interview process, helping me understand what to expect. We even did a mock interview, based on a real Police interview, which gave me valuable feedback and helped build my confidence.
The mentoring programme has been an amazing experience, and I would recommend it to anyone. The support Tawhidur has given me has been more than I could have ever asked for, from working on my employability to simply checking-in and making sure I’m coping with uni life. I really appreciate what Tawhidur, and this programme, has done for me as I approach the end of my studies.”
Find out more about mentoring.
2. Host our students on a work internship or placement
For many students, gaining real-world experience can be the moment their future career starts to feel possible. By offering work internships or placements, alumni can help students gain insight into their chosen industry.
Nick Fell (Law, 1984) has welcomed Liverpool students to BW Group’s Singapore and Copenhagen offices. Through the “BW Experience” students gain insight into all aspects of Shipping Law and experience working in a global business environment. His long-standing commitment has helped 42 interns and three in-house trainees gain valuable industry experience, giving Liverpool graduates a strong foundation for their future careers.
Here’s what some of the students had to say about the experience:
Kristin Asheim (Law, 2022)
“As a student, it was immensely valuable to enter a work environment where experienced colleagues genuinely want to help you build a career. The internship had a significant impact on me and is one of the main reasons why I chose to study maritime law and enter the shipping industry.”
Jamilia Kwajah-Ellimah (Law, 2024)
“Interning in Singapore is one of my proudest achievements. The experience helped me stand out in applications and interviews – it gave me the opportunity to demonstrate my understanding of contractual and commercial law when securing my current role as a paralegal for the Government Legal Department.”
Orla Calvey (Law, 2025)
“The work was very hands-on and reflective of the day-to-day duties of an in-house lawyer. The time I spent in Copenhagen really helped me feel confident and knowledgeable about being an in-house lawyer and I remain grateful for the opportunity.”
Charlotte Martin (Law, 2025)
“I spent an incredible five weeks in Singapore, gaining valuable insight into the strategic role of in-house legal counsel within a global business. The internship was a truly formative step in my professional journey, and I feel better equipped to manage the challenges I will face in my future legal career.”
Find out more about hosting a placement or internship.
3. Be a guest speaker
By returning to campus as a guest lecturer, alumni can help students connect their studies to the real world. Sharing professional experience, industry insight, and personal career journeys gives students valuable perspective. For many students, hearing directly from someone who once sat where they are now can be both reassuring and motivating.
Ed Heaver (Geography, 1991), founder of ServeLegal, retuned to campus in February 2026 to speak to recipients of the Rigby Enterprise Award.
“I had a great afternoon talking to four Sir Peter Rigby Scholars who all have entrepreneurial dreams in their different fields of finance, technology, mental health, and media. It was great to hear and experience their hunger to succeed, their passion to make a difference, and their desire to create value. Speaking with them for over two hours was inspiring.
"I had previously spoken at the University in May 2025, and one of the Scholars mentioned how I had spoken of knocking on doors to help drive sales back in the early days of my career. She said she used this example in an interview for an internship and believed it helped her secure it, which made me feel quite humble!
"I have had a very successful entrepreneurial career, and I want to share that experience and knowledge with young people especially during what is such a tough time for graduates to enter the world of work. I really enjoyed my own time at the University of Liverpool, and I am grateful for the things I experienced there both academically and as a sportsman – so it seems fitting to try and give something back.”
Find out more about guest lecture opportunities.
4. Support our international community
We have official alumni networks across the world, led by dedicated volunteers who help alumni and students feel welcomed, supported and connected, wherever they are in the world. Volunteers help create spaces where alumni can support one another, welcome new graduates, and offer guidance to prospective students considering Liverpool.
Vibha Vasuki (International Human Rights Law, 2018) shares what her alumni ambassador role means to her.
“As the India Alumni Ambassador, I work closely with the Alumni Relations team to grow the community here. Not as a list of contacts, but as a network where people know each other, turn up for each other, and stay in touch beyond University events.
"I have attended most of the University's events in India, and I have been able to sit down with prospective students for the conversations that matter most to them. Not the polished brochure version of Liverpool, but the real one. What it feels like to land in a new country on your own, how the city slowly becomes familiar, and what a Liverpool degree can do for you once you are back home.
"Being an alumni ambassador has quietly become one of the most meaningful things I do. It is nice to see a community take shape, with people who once felt scattered across India now recognising bits of themselves in one another. Plus, there is a special kind of satisfaction in speaking to a prospective student who is unsure and seeing them leave the conversation a little less worried and a little more curious.
"Years on from graduating, the University and the city of Liverpool still feel like part of me, largely because volunteering has given me a way to keep showing up for it.”
Find out more about the international alumni networks.
Want even more inspiration? Check out our full offer of volunteer opportunities.