The volunteering involves reaching out to local community groups, organisations, associations, or networks and takes place from December onwards.
Students were asked to share their reflections on volunteering in the form of a brief presentation to their peers and teachers. The volunteering provided an insight into the local community that is not often seen by students at the University. It gives an alternative perspective that was surprising for many of them, they all expressed how positive the experience had been and many of them which will continue to volunteer in the future.
IHTM provides a list of organisations that students can approach or students can find their own activity. In previous years they took part in science public engagement at the University or in collaboration with partners which is still possible, through volunteering, but it was decided to widen the scope of this element of the course.
The organisations chosen by the students were varied and included: