What is your current role at the university?
I manage the Partnerships team in the Volunteering Service at UCL (University College London).
What do you like about CoachBright’s mission and work?
CoachBright’s programmes in Primary and Secondary schools are well thought through and tailored appropriately. I particularly like CoachBright’s focus on building young people’s independence, self-reflection and resilience through coaching – and I value the flexibility their programmes afford to our students who apply to volunteer with them.
Why did you want to partner with CoachBright?
I value volunteering opportunities that are explicit from the off about what’s expected, what’s involved and the impact our students will have. CoachBright makes the full volunteering journey clear and supports those that successfully apply throughout their time with them. UCL students who do volunteer with CoachBright consistently tell my team they’ve had an excellent experience.
What does your current partnership with CoachBright involve?
CoachBright regularly engages with our service – they’re great at updating their opportunities on our platform, notifying us of who they’ve selected to volunteer and requesting targeted communications to specific academic departments. They’re always very engaging at our volunteering fairs on campus, are active participants at our networking events and can always be relied upon to join us on request at relevant panel talks and departmental events ran through my team. This year they’ve been selected out of a highly competitive field to host a team of our students on our UCL Consultancy Challenge this summer.
What impact have you seen on both the pupils on the CoachBright programmes and your own students?
Our CoachBright volunteers tell us they’ve felt comfortable and supported from the beginning of their volunteering journey to the end. They’ve praised CoachBright’s regular communication and support – and come across as confident volunteers that can clearly articulate the impact they’ve had through their volunteering, on themselves and others.
Why do you think other universities should partner with CoachBright?
All the CoachBright staff who’ve been in touch with my team over the years have been friendly, attentive and keen to develop our community partnership to our mutual benefit. Their navigation of our systems, their positive representation at our events and their constant professionalism make them a real pleasure to work with. Their opportunities are flexible, have clearly defined impacts, are well supported and always generate a high level of interest and engagement amongst our students.
