Best present you can give is the gift of time
AS 2018 comes to an end and the festive season approaches far too quickly, you may, like me, still be searching for those last-minute gifts for family and friends.
Despite the stress, this is a time of celebration and a great opportunity to reflect on the pleasure you get from giving.
Giving comes in many forms, and the gift that is often most precious is the gift of time.
That is why the thing I am most proud of this year is the time our students and staff give to support our local community, either through volunteering or fundraising.
Our chosen charity for 2018 was the Donna Louise.
Through a range of activities – including the gruelling ‘Tower to Tower’ challenge in May where our Vice-chancellor, Professor Liz Barnes, rowed and walked from Paris to London alongside Sentinel Editor Martin Tideswell and KMF’S Gareth Higgins, above – the university has raised over £25,000.
Donations from our Christmas Carol Service also go to the charity, and at the service Chris Belyavin from the Donna Louise gave a poignant and heartfelt reminder of why supporting the work they do is so important.
He was, of course, slightly overshadowed by our wonderful nursery children singing and dancing to ‘When Santa got stuck up the chimney’!
It is, however, not just the big events that are important, but also the smaller, more localised acts that can make such a difference, to not only the beneficiaries but also to those who are giving.
Last year, nursing students from our Stafford Centre of Excellence arranged a collection of coats and blankets for homeless people via the House of Bread charity, and Stoke-based Brighter Futures.
This year the university chaplaincy is organising collections of toiletries to help homeless women.
We also believe it’s important to raise aspirations and achievements through supporting our local community by sponsoring initiatives to encourage literacy.
In the New Year, Our Big Read project with The Sentinel will see books designed by cartoon and comic art students delivered to all Year 9 pupils in city schools. We are also proud to partner with The Sentinel on their annual ‘Too Write’ creative writing competition. Meanwhile, our search to find Staffordshire Future Journalist has recently launched, organised by students, with the support of Stokeon-trent North MP Ruth Smeeth.
The Philip Astley Project is a consortium led by Staffordshire University whereby lecturer Carmel Thompson worked with volunteers at the Brampton Museum to produce an open access, online pack for people to learn more about Astley’s life, legacy and connection to Newcastle.
Carmel engaged students to do extra-curricular work on the website, enabling them to connect with the community and gain skills on content production and social media.
This project included working with the Staffordshire Film Archive, the New Vic Theatre, No Fit State Circus and the Van Buren Organisation. The resulting show and exhibitions gave pleasure to hundreds of visitors.
Some of our most popular activities have been the Big Bang Event and Big Biology Day, where schoolchildren and families came into the university and experienced hands-on science and nature activities designed to show that science is fun.
And did you know that every year our tourism students support the Stone Food and Drink Festival, and that this year they volunteered at the ‘Proper Stokie Christmas’ event to switch on the city centre lights?
There is much to be proud of. Often we try to put a monetary value on the economic impact that universities have in our cities and regions, but perhaps this is sometimes best turned on its head: it’s the added value we give, the support that money can’t buy, and our people giving of their free time that helps connect us with our community.
The things that matter to you, and touch local people, are the same things that matter to our university community.
So, as we wrap our last gift or ponder on our new year’s resolution, perhaps we should all think about the gift of time and the value of giving back.