Skills, Learning & Volunteering

Advice & Guidance

• Should I volunteer?

  There's good evidence that volunteering brings benefits to both the person volunteering and the people and organisations they support. Volunteering involves spending unpaid time doing something to help other people or groups, other than (or as well as) close relatives. Evidence suggests that volunteering brings health benefits to…

• How to volunteer

  Volunteering is a rewarding way to use your spare time. There are many people, charities and organisations who could benefit from your support. First of all, decide what kind of volunteering would suit you. Think about the sort of organisation you'd like to volunteer for, the activities you'd like…

• Volunteering for Crisis at Christmas

  Crisis at Christmas centres, organised by the charity Crisis, are safe and warm places where homeless people can spend the festive period. Volunteer Victoria Hunt describes her first shift in December 2013. I'd heard from volunteering friends that Crisis at Christmas was a fantastic project supporting…

• Exercise and study

  It's important to find time to exercise, particularly during exams when all you seem to do is sit at your desk and work all day (and often into the night). Why should students exercise? Not only is exercise good for your overall health and fitness, but…

• Student mental health

  Mental health problems are as common among students as they are in the general population. But it's not just students who have a diagnosed mental health condition that can benefit from counselling. Alan Percy, head of counselling at the University of Oxford, says: "A lot of difficulties are not…

• Is work good for your health?

  Work is good for your bank balance but bad for your health, right? Wrong. The characteristics of work - activity, social interaction, identity and status - are proven to be beneficial for our physical and mental health. Recent research shows that people in work tend…

• The Havering Empowering Parents Empowering Communities (EPEC) Hub

  The Havering Empowering Parents Empowering Communities (EPEC) Hub offers accredited courses for parents and carers. Designed by the NHS Centre for Parents and Children, the hub offers high-quality content; which is supervised by the local EPEC Hub Co-ordinator and quality assured by a National EPEC…