Jemima Millar, the SJCR’s outgoing Durham University Volunteering and Outreach Representative, discusses the 2023 Volunteering Events, in which the John’s – Chad’s Volunteering initiatives were recognised.
The event began with a mocktail reception in the luxurious Radisson Hotel in central Durham; a far cry from the socially distanced tent where I last attended the awards during my second year. Once everyone took their seats, we heard a speech from Craig Morgan, the Area Action Partnership Coordinator who works closely with the university and has been on the judging panel for the awards for several years. He noted that without volunteering, he would not have the job he does now, nor have met his wife.
The winners of the first half of the awards were announced, with categories for both students and staff for best environmental effort, best cultural effort, best social inclusion effort, best educational effort, best new volunteering project, outstanding newcomer, and longstanding volunteer. There were some incredible projects, including one helping refugees, and one tutoring Ukrainian children.
After a break for a delicious buffet, the Lord Lieutenant of Durham, Susan Snowdon, gave a speech about the value of volunteering, before the next set of awards was announced. After awards for the volunteer leader of the year; team of the year and volunteer of the year, it came to the college of the year award: the atmosphere was tense as the nominees were read out: Collingwood, St John’s & St Chad’s, and Van Mildert college.
It seemed unlikely that we would trump these much larger colleges that already had long-term community partners and more manpower to devote. However, after a highly recommended award for Collingwood’s incredible fundraising efforts for DASH this year, the winner was read out: St John’s & St Chad’s. Jeremy Cook, the pro-vice chancellor, praised the success of our collaboration and ability to go from almost no volunteering projects to multiple in a short space of time. We were presented with certificates and an engraved shield, which currently lies in the trophy cabinet in the Bailey Room. I would like to say a huge congratulations to all the winners, but also to the runners-up – as Katie Binks noted during the event’s introduction, there were over 300 nominations, and so those that made the shortlist did incredibly well.
Our story shows the importance of teamwork: despite being the smallest colleges in Durham, our joint efforts led to this incredibly exciting first of two colleges winning the award, hopefully setting a precedent for this mutually beneficial partnership to continue for years to come. It has been an honour to work with an amazing team this year: Catie, the other John’s representative, and the two Chad’s representatives, Abi and Sarah. Without them, we could not have achieved this award, nor boosted outreach so much within our colleges.
As I end my time at John’s, I’m feeling very optimistic about the future of volunteering in our college. There really is something for everyone, and volunteering is one of the most rewarding things you can do during your time at university, not to mention how grounding it is to leave the Durham bubble and get involved in the local community. As Catie wrote in her recent article, making a difference in someone’s day does not take a lot; it can be something as small as heading over to the Haughton dining hall and writing a Christmas card for a lonely care home resident.
Come along, bring a friend, and don’t hesitate to send over any questions (or project suggestions) to chadsjohns.outreach@durham.ac.uk; check out the Facebook & Instagram, (@chadjohnsvolunteering); or sign up to the platform here: https://durhamunistudentvolunteering.teamkinetic.co.uk/volunteers/provider-profile/ChadstJohnsVolunteering.
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