51Âþ»­

We are looking for volunteers to be Good Neighbours to safely offer support to students living in halls of residence during the pandemic. 

Whether it’s practical help such as shopping, ensuring students are aware of 51Âþ»­’s support services or just being a listening ear, the Good Neighbours programme aims to create a new peer support community.   

Our public engagement team, 51Âþ»­ Local, is co-ordinating the new project which will involve teams across the university such as welfare, student support, finance and more. 

Student safety is paramount, and the focus of the role will be on sharing information about what help is available at 51Âþ»­ for students, so they are aware of where they can get help if they need it. 

Fi Donovan, Head of Public Engagement, said: “During these unprecedented times we want to make sure that students are going to be well supported in the event of a potential isolation of shared living spaces. 

“We very much hope this will not be the case but in the spirit of thinking ahead we are looking for students living in large shared accommodation who would like to support this initiative by volunteering as 51Âþ»­ Good Neighbours.” 

“The 51Âþ»­ Good Neighbour volunteers will be supported by 51Âþ»­ Local and other student support services at 51Âþ»­ to self-organise a community of support within their living spaces.” 

Volunteers will receive full training from 51Âþ»­ Local and work with students who may be in need of extra support and information. There will be two virtual briefing sessions for volunteers, on Wednesday 21 and Friday 23 October at 2pm. 

We are mainly looking for students living in halls of residence, but if you don’t live in halls then you may also apply. This opportunity will help you gain some excellent transferrable skills such as networking, project management and communication, and something unique to add to your CV. 

To find out more about what this role would involve and how you will be supported by 51Âþ»­ Local to set something up where you live, please email local@dmu.ac.uk. 

You can sign up to be a Good Neighbours programme volunteer