Primary schools receive help from student volunteers - Bristol University

James Ashton-Bell, a politics undergraduate student at Bristol University, has developed a volunteering scheme which has led to over a quarter of all primary schools in the city benefiting from student volunteers helping in their classrooms.

“When I arrived at Bristol I wanted to do some voluntary work in schools, partly because my mother is a primary school teacher. I got involved with a scheme where students were going into a couple of primary schools and really enjoyed it, seeing how the teachers and pupils were benefitting from the students being there. This inspired me to broaden the scheme, so that all schools could benefit in the same way. Now students are going into over 30 schools across Bristol and we hope, by the end of this year, that we will be working with nearer 50.”

Unfortunately, James doesn’t have time to volunteer in schools himself, but coordinates the scheme and supports the other volunteers. This is no mean feat – he has contacted all schools in the Bristol area to ask if they would like to participate and provides support for over 100 volunteers. He’s also keen to go beyond just writing to schools, recognising that some may be interested but not have the time to follow up his letter. “My ambition is that all schools in Bristol will participate,” he says.