University Support for Student Volunteering in England: Historical Development and Contemporary Value

This article draws on a major study of student volunteering based on case studies of six Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)
selected to represent the diversity of the higher education sector in England. The study finds that students contribute significantly
to university life and to the wider community through both formal and informal volunteering. However in this paper we consider
the challenges and problems with the organisation of student volunteering. Our research finds that students who were supported
by their university to volunteer reported better experiences of volunteering and identified greater impacts on their personal
development, soft skills, employability and community awareness. In this paper we challenge the tendency of some policy makers
and practitioners to view student volunteering as an automatic ‘win, win, win’—for students, for universities and for communities.
Rather we explore how without adequate support, management and opportunities for reflection and placing volunteering in wider
social context, student volunteering can fail to benefit any of these groups. The paper outlines the development of institutional
support for volunteering by students before assessing the value such support has for student volunteers today.