Our Bristol Volunteers are a community of over 1,700 alumni who all give their time and expertise to support the University community. We’re so grateful for the huge amount of effort our volunteers put into giving back to the University and to reflect this, we’re developing even more ways to say thank you and recognise their impact.
Category: Bristol Volunteers
Bristol alumni set up to help new medics during COVID-19
In response to COVID-19 our 2020 MBChB students graduated early to begin their medical careers and help during these unprecedented times. The Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO), together with the Bristol Medical School, reached out to the doctors in our alumni community to see if they could offer their support and advice during this time, we had an overwhelming response and some truly inspiring and encouraging offers of help.
An incredible 40 alumni offered their time to support our newly graduated MBChB junior doctors, and from those we were able to match 25 students to alumni. These included alumni working in hospitals such as the; BRI, Swindon, Southmead and Taunton. We even had offers of remote support from doctors working outside the Severn Deanery hospitals which was fantastic to receive.
Alumni share their government and third sector career insights with students
On Tuesday 21 July, our alumni volunteers shared their career stories with students and recent graduates. The event was part of our Bristol Connects Live series – our online series of career and professional development events. The session focused on careers in government and the third sector and our alumni experts shared their career stories and experiences to inspire students and recent graduates to help them understand more about the sector.
The event was hosted by Kim Slim (LLB 2016) who works as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister’s Independent Grenfell Adviser and Head of Grenfell Community Support Team at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Kim was joined on the panel by Annabelle Pemberton (BA 2018), Organisational Development Officer at Redearth Education and Shailini Vora (BSc 2016), Trust Fundraising Officer at St Mungo’s.
Alumni Interview: Rebecca Hellen (BA 1994), Specialist Advisor for Paintings Conservation at the National Trust
As final-year Bristol students prepare to mark the end of their time at the University through online ‘Summer Celebration’ events, we caught up with Bristol alumna Rebecca Hellen (BA 1994), to reflect on her own time at the University. A graduate of the Faculty of Arts, Rebecca worked as Senior Paintings Conservator at Tate for 18 years, and has recently taken up a new role as Specialist Advisor and Paintings Conservator at the National Trust. She shares her career story and lends some tips for how to stay creative in lockdown.
Alumni entrepreneurs share their career insights with students
On Tuesday 16 June, over 150 students and graduates joined us for the first Bristol Connects Live – our series of online career and professional development events. With a focus on entrepreneurship, our alumni experts shared their career stories and experience to inspire students and recent graduates to help them understand more about starting up their own businesses, opportunities and pitfalls, and the different routes to entrepreneurship.
Become a Bristol Volunteer: Current Opportunities
At the Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO) we work with departments across the University to match alumni volunteers with relevant and rewarding opportunities. There are so many different ways to get involved as a Bristol Volunteer and all of them make a huge difference to our community. Whether you give your time or expertise, you will be helping to enrich the lives of students and graduates alike.
Current volunteering opportunities are listed below.
Could you share your career insight with our students?
Bristol Connects Live
We are looking for speakers to share their expertise at Bristol Connects Live, our new online series of career development events. If you would like to share your insights on your industry or ways of working, then we would love to welcome you as a panellist, subject expert or event host.
Panellist and event hosts will speak live, whilst subject experts will provide insight through the event text chat. If you are interested in getting involved or would like to find out more information, please contact the Bristol Volunteers team at alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk.
Thank you to our 1,500 Bristol Volunteers
Each year, the first week in June is dedicated to celebrating the impact of volunteers in the UK and thanking the millions of people who give their time to help others. We at the University of Bristol have been celebrating our 1,500 strong network of alumni volunteers, and the profound impact they have on the Bristol community.
Bristol Volunteers give time to the University of Bristol by organising events and activities to connect alumni, supporting students through mentoring and sharing career insight; helping the University with invaluable advice; or providing potential students with guidance on making the right study choices for them.
Staying Connected
Are you missing meeting up with old friends? Have you had to put a reunion on hold? Try not to feel disheartened, here at the University we want to help you stay connected virtually.
We have four different ways to help you connect.
Provide careers support for your alumni community
Graduate employers may reduce their intake of graduates this year. The advice, insight and connections that Bristol alumni can offer newer members of the alumni community are more valuable now than ever. For students and recent graduates exploring their options, the chance to hear from someone further along in their career journey can be critical in making informed decisions about the next step.
Join the Bristol Mentors programme
Bristol Mentors provide crucial guidance and support with career preparation to students who are likely to particularly benefit from your skills and expertise. Mentors are empathetic and good listeners, often have experience of working with young people, and understand the barriers to education and professional success that many students face.
We match mentors with students, and pairs then spend one or two hours per month together (online or, when it is safe to do so, in person) through the academic year. You will be fully supported by the University in your role. Read this story about the impact of mentoring, and read the programme’s details and apply.
Become a Career Expert
Whether you work in the public or private sector, a multi-national company or for yourself, your career path could provide inspiration to others. It’s easy to become a Career Expert through Bristol Connects. If you choose to volunteer in this way, your profile, including your career history and your industry insight, will be available for students and alumni to view. You can choose to be available for students and alumni to connect with on a one-to-one basis, providing help on specialist topics and offering opportunities of your choice. Become a Career Expert today.
Speak at Bristol Connects: live
We are looking for speakers to share their expertise at Bristol Connects: live, our forthcoming online series of career development and networking sessions. If you are experienced in speaking publicly and are willing to share your insights on your industry or ways of working, then we would love to welcome you as a panellist, subject expert or event host.
Panellists and event hosts will speak live, whilst subject experts will provide insight through the event text chat. If you are interested in volunteering for these events or would like to find out more, please contact the Bristol Volunteers team at alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk.
We are very grateful for the outstanding contribution of our alumni volunteers across the world: your advice, experience and support have an enormous impact on our students, the alumni community and the University – thank you.
Alumni share their government and third sector career insights with students
A big thank you to our Bristol Volunteers for giving their time and expertise to our final year students and recent graduates, at our London Careers Insight event in early March.
Alumni working in government and the third sector shared their career stories and experiences to inspire students and help them understand more about the sector. From what it’s like to work at the Department for International Development to starting out as an entrepreneur, the alumni panel were on hand to discuss a wide variety of career paths.
The panel members explained how different jobs in different industries can help you get on the career ladder, and that it is fine to compromise a little at the start of your degree to get to where you want to be.
Panellist India Fallon (BA 2014), who now works as a Programme Officer at Youth Business International, highlighted the importance of continuing to develop skills after graduation. For India, undertaking internships and taking part in volunteering programmes helped her to build on skills learnt through her degree and secure her current role.
Sitting alongside her on the panel, was Ella Hopkins (BA 2015), who now works as a Gender Project Officer at Bretton Woods Project. Speaking about the event she said: “It was a real privilege to speak at this event and to hear about all of the other speakers’ career journeys. It was also great to speak to all the other graduates and hear about their plans and ideas” (Ella Hopkins, BA 2015).
All alumni who helped out at the event are volunteers on our Bristol Volunteers programme. Due to the current climate we will not be running any careers networking events for the foreseeable future, however if you would like to share your experience and expertise you can sign-up as a Career Expert on our online platform exclusive for alumni – Bristol Connects.