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Latest Opportunities
Wed 04 Oct 2017
Our Community Ambassadors are an important network of volunteers who help make a difference to babies born premature and sick by raising awareness of Bliss Scotland's work in their local area.
Wed 04 Oct 2017
We are looking for a fundraising intern to join our small team based at our office in central Edinburgh. As an intern you will have the chance to work at the heart of a small charity, gaining insight into all our work. You will gain experience and knowledge in events and community fundraising.
Fri 29 Sep 2017
We are looking for a talented Graphic Designer to help spread the word. This is an online position and requires no set hours. However, we do require someone who will be dedicated to helping us make a difference. No experience necessary, just the ability to create effective and professional graphic.
Wed 16 Aug 2017
Cyrenians aims to create a sustainable Social Enterprise that takes unwanted wood, tyres, and furniture to create new/upcycled products. We need creative volunteers to help us design new products and DIY volunteers to help us build them.
Thank-you for showing your interest in ENSA Volunteering's VBase website, and welcome to the Edinburgh Napier Students’ Association community!
Why Students?
As a not-for-profit organisation, student volunteers can be an incredible resource for you and will bring a variety of valuable skills along with them from their studies. Edinburgh Napier University provides academic programmes inlcuding: computing, sport science, nursing, midwifery, engineering, film making, events, business & finance, law, life sciences and social sciences.
Students will not only bring with them field-specific knowledge that could be of great use to you, but will also bring enthusiasm, energy and a willingness to learn! Their variable timetables mean they can volunteer during the hours you need them, although we encourage organisations to be aware of busy exam periods, and that some students may be unavailble during University vacations.
An increasing number of students will be required to work on a voluntary placement as part of their studies, whch means you also have the chance to get a skilled student working on a long-term project for your organisation, whether that be developing a new website, creating some promotional videos, or working on a research project.
Our primary focus is on promoting opportunities that have local impact in our community as well as enabling students to develop themselves in a real working organisation.
What ENSA Volunteering can offer you
ENSA Volunteering operates physically through our VBase hub on our Merchiston campus, and maintains a virtual presence through our website and social media. Throughout the year VBase also runs promotional stalls and talks, and works closely with academics to get volunteering opportunities out to students.
ENSA Volunteering will provide a platform for your volunteering opportunities on the website, in person, and on social media. We aim to meet each of our partner organisations regularly to tailor our services to your requirements, and hear about what is working for you, and what new ideas you have. We use our knowledge of the students and University life to target groups and individuals with your opportunities, and through us you can be invited to attend volunteering fairs on campus.
Who can register as a partner organisation?
Charities working in Edinburgh
VBase is mainly focussed on creating partnerships with charities who operate in the Edinburgh area, so if you're a registered charity in Scotland there should be no problem partnering up. We also prefer working with charities who have opportunities beyond simply shaking a money bucket or bag-packing.
Not-for-profit organisations working in Edinburgh
We are open to working with other not-for-profit organisations who have volunteering opportuinties in Edinburgh, such as the local council or community groups, but may request a meeting beforehand to talk through the work you do, how your organisation is structured, and what opportunities you have for students.
VBase does not partner with social enterprises, although a partnership may be considered if the social enterprise offers an exceptional opportunity related to an academic course at Edinburgh Napier. VBase will make such decisions on a case by case basis.
Organisations promoting volunteering abroad
ENSA Volunteering refers all students interested in international volunteering to our partners Xchange Scotland and VSO, and we are not currently able to promote any other international volunteering projects or organisations.
Registering as a partner organisation
Following registration, we like to arrange a meeting with our partners, face to face or over the phone if that’s preferred, to talk about the organisation and what opportunities there might be available to students. We can also answer any questions you might have about how we operate, and discuss plans for the future.
Once approved, partner organisations can add new volunteering opportunities to our website as and when they arise, can monitor volunteer applications, and keep organisational information up to date. When a student applies to volunteer with you, the student’s contact details will be sent to your named contact to take further action on, and you can set up a tailored auto-response email to go back to the student with further information.
What we ask of our partners
As a charity ourselves, ENSA relies on funding to achieve our aims. To gain funding we try to provide examples of what Edinburgh Napier students are getting up to in their volunteer roles, so that our supporters can see what a valuable addition to the community students are.
To this end we ask our partners to keep us informed of any Edinburgh Napier students that take up positions with you, and to perhaps give us some qualitiative feedback on your experiences with that student. We turn this information into case studies and news stories which we promote widely, and will therefore benefit your organisation in the process!
Thanks again for your interest in ENSA Volunteering!