Video transcript: Volunteering with the Plus Programme

Transcript for the video embedded on the Volunteering with the Plus Programme page.

(Zidra sits down and smiles. A caption says: Zidra Ketelaars, Race and Resistance MA, Graduated 2019.)

Zidra: The Plus Programme opens up the University to people who've come from less traditional backgrounds into education, and it recognizes that those people need more support.

(Abby sits down and smiles. A caption says: Abbey Tsang, second year Business Management with Marketing BA.)

Abby: They’re trying to bridge the gap for those students, and allow them to have equal opportunities to programmes and societies as well.

Zidra: The Plus Programme will be something that's part of a student's whole experience going through University and continue to be a part of their experience as an alum.

Being involved in the Plus Programme as a volunteer gives you a great opportunity to get involved with students who've come from similar backgrounds to you. When I was doing my Masters, I came back and gave mentoring advice to dissertation students. 

Abby: Having access to the alumni from the Plus Programme has been really useful. I think it would be quite rare to have that one-to-one, like meeting with someone who's so established in that industry.

I had a mentoring session with a lady called Claire Himmer, she was a CEO of a company. She gave me an insight into marketing and what a career could be like. She connected me with some of her other industry links as well, so I was able to speak with them outside of the meeting. It inspired me.

Zidra: Because I had such a positive experience when I was at the University, and I felt like I was given a lot, it was really nice to then be able to think that I could give back and I could help people. I could make sure people were enjoying University the way that I enjoyed University. The students get stuff out of it, but also you really get something out of it, so it's a win-win.

As an alum there’s such a wide range of things you can get involved in, no matter the time pressures you have in your own life. So you could get involved in mentoring, but you can also get involved in workshops and events, writing LinkedIn posts and blogs, or even being in short videos like this.

Abby: When I graduate from the University of Leeds, I’d definitely like to come back and help and hopefully mentor some other students and inspire them. Without the Plus Programme, I'd definitely say I would have no sense of direction at all, career wise. 

Zidra: It's really nice to kind of give back after you've had that great experience at Uni. You also have this really unique experience that you can share with other students and it's just really fun as well as being rewarding.

Abby: You could really change someone's life, especially their career. They might become inspired by you and eventually that student might actually follow the same path.

Zidra: There are so many different opportunities to get involved with us. If you're interested, please get in touch.

(A caption says: University of Leeds. Find out more at leeds.ac.uk/alumni-volunteering)