On behalf of our students and staff, the Office of Development and Alumni Relations (ODAR) would like to thank our alumni and supporter community for giving a combined 10,000 volunteer hours to support the University of Southampton this year.
Our volunteers have supported both online and in-person activities. We’ve been able to welcome many familiar faces back to campus, whilst still offering a suite of online opportunities to those who live further away.
This year, volunteers have been able to continue to recruit excellent students, provide valuable mentoring opportunities, support the employability of recent graduates, and enhance the experience of our student community.
To celebrate Volunteers’ Week, we wanted to share with you some messages of thanks from across the University, and highlight how volunteers are making a huge difference:
“Working together with alumni has been a crucial part of CEPAR’s Talent Development Programme. We are so thankful to all of the alumni who have supported us to deliver this exciting new employability initiative and have been overwhelmed by our alumni’s willingness to give back to the Business School and connect with our students. From inspiring guest talks to informal mentoring and being a critical friend, alumni have helped make the programme a success. We are excited to continue developing the programme with alumni input and look forward to forming new relationships with our fantastic alumni community.”
Holly Street, Careers & Employability Officer, Careers, Employability, Placements & Alumni Relations (CEPAR), Southampton Business School
“We would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to all our wonderful alumni volunteers, who have taken time away from their very busy lives to contribute to our ‘Where can your degree take you?’ online event series this year. You were all inspirational in really bringing your subjects to life and highlighting the vast array of exciting careers that a University of Southampton student can look forward to. Your support has been outstanding and much appreciated – thank you!”
Gail Alani, Head of UK Student Recruitment, Global Recruitment & Admissions
“As volunteer week approaches, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our mentors on the e-mentoring platform. Your commitment to giving your time to supporting current students by sharing your knowledge, expertise and journey is invaluable. The mentors are the backbone of the e-mentoring program and their continued involvement has allowed current students to access additional guidance in their career search, allowing students to be more confident and successful. Thank you!”
Josephine Spencer, Fourth Year Economics Student and E-Mentee
“Alumni volunteers who support our careers events are invaluable. Those who recently attended our series of Humanities Career Panel events gave fantastic insights and words of wisdom to support our future graduates. We are very much indebted to them for giving up their time and thank them for their continued support of the University of Southampton.”
Julie Parfitt, Careers Consultant, Careers, Employability and Student Enterprise
“I’ve learned so much since studying at the University of Southampton. I’m glad I was given opportunities to share these learnings with prospective students and current students to help them on their journey.”
Samuel Ajayi, Alumni Volunteer & Founder, Film Finder
We thank our volunteers for giving their time and expertise to support the University of Southampton. Alumni volunteers play a vital role in representing the University and ensuring that current and future students can thrive at Southampton.
We hope that even more of our students will get the chance to engage with alumni volunteers in the future.
If you would like more information on alumni and supporter volunteering or if you have an idea about how you can involve alumni volunteers – get in touch with us at [email protected]
