News 2005-06

Partners in Environmental Futures Conference
StudentForce partnered the Careers Group for the Environmental Futures Careers Conference which attracted 120 students and recent graduates from the London Region. Keynote presentations were given by Jonathan Lonsdale of the DTI on the future prospects for careers in the environmental industries and Will Pope of The Society for the Environment on the value of professional body membership. Andrew Britton of Upstream Consultancy and a Director of StudentForce gave a presentation on working in a sustainable development consultancy and contributed to panel session answering the student’s questions. Adam Cade coordinated and ran the afternoon participative workshops for all the students and graduates. The presentations and review of the workshops will be included on the environmental careers website www.environmentcareers.org.uk. efposterfinal.pdf
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

Independent article - The Future’s bright, the future’s green
StudentForce had good coverage in an article in the Education and Careers Section of Independent on March 16th. It was linked to the Environmental Futures Careers Conference organised by The Careers Group in partnership with StudentForce in London.Indeparticle160306
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

Contract from Higher Education Academy
StudentForce has been awarded a contract for action research on graduate employability and sustainability from the Higher Education Academy, responsible for developing the quality teaching and learning in UK higher education institutions. The Higher Education and Funding Council of England has recently developed its Strategy for sustainable development which has given higher education institutions the green challenge to the 3Cs – campuses, curricula and communities. If this new sustainability agenda is added to the employability agenda there is an additional 2C challenge – competencies and careers. Sustainability competencies are of fundamental importance since Government strategy seeks to make sure that “sustainability literacy becomes a core competency for professional graduates”, thus aiming to show that everyone can learn to “live green” at work. StudentForce will be helping to find out if employers really need graduates with these competencies, as well as whether graduates would really prefer to work for employers who are environmentally and socially responsible. A report will be produced in autumn 2006.
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

StudentForce helps MV projects in from the cold
StudentForce staff played a major part in getting the regional Millennium Volunteer projects together to share best practice and to plan for the future. The residential event was held at Quorn Hall near Loughborough. This included outdoor, team building challenges which were great fun and popular despite the freezing and wet conditions. After everyone warmed up a bit some excellent best practice workshops were run on subjects as diverse as the volunteering opportunities we all provide, including community projects, environmental projects and accrediting volunteers' learning. A session on the future of youth volunteering under the Russell Commission didn't answer all of the questions people had but did highlight the need for all MV groups to work together more on a strategic footing over the coming year. Studentforce are working closer with all the other Leicester based MV projects. Events like this help us to strengthen and coordinate what is available to young people in the county. Everyone thought the event was a success and left with fresh contacts and fresh ideas to put into practice, the message was - volunteering work - we love it!
Stephen Passmore, Volunteering Projects Manager

Millennium Volunteers take on Ketton stream
On a cold Saturday in February some of the StudentForce staff volunteered to clear and beautify Ketton’s Sink stream. The event was organised by StudentForce’s Millennium Volunteers Coordinators Jane Keal and Stephanie Blackwell. The volunteers cleared litter, debris and overhanging trees to smooth the stream’s flow and encourage the growth of the fool’s cress and a habitat for the native crayfish. This is one of the declining sites for the native freshwater crayfish as the introduced signal crayfish is spreading nationally as it is larger than the native species, reproduces more rapidly and is resistant to plague. Ecologists linked 'crayfish plague' with the escape to the wild of the American signal crayfish, introduced in the 1970s for farming. Besides spreading disease, signal crayfish can be a nuisance to fishermen and can damage river banks by burrowing. The volunteer team completely filled a large trailer with the excess material and received heartening compliments from passers-by.
Scott Riley, Millennium Volunteer

Northamptonshire Recycling Awareness Campaign
The Northamptonshire Recycling Awareness Campaign has reached its conclusion after successfully contacting over 10% of the residents of Northamptonshire to promote the three R’s of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The doorstepping campaign managed by StudentForce in partnership with Waste Watch and Northamptonshire County Council, led a team of ten recycling promoters across the seven Districts and Boroughs of Northamptonshire. The team visited householders on their doorstep to gather feedback about the kerbside collection schemes and attempted to resolve any barriers that may prevent them from recycling. They also attended a number of events to boost the promotions with the help of interactive stalls and freebies.
The running of the campaign was noted as a success by the Directors of Northamptonshire County Council as well as WRAP who funded and regulated the project, commenting that it was unusual for a project of this nature to run so smoothly. The hard work behind the smooth running resulted in an impressive increase in participation of the kerbside collection scheme from 53% to 59% countywide, an increase of 6%. This is a remarkable achievement within the 19 week timescale of promotional activity.
Additional benefits are the increase in awareness of the Slim Your Bin waste minimisation campaign, the establishment of focus groups whereby the local authority officers have the chance to gain feedback from householders to identify potential improvements to the scheme, thus contributing towards future increases in participation rates. In terms of employability three of the team of ten recycling promoters have already gone on to secure work in the waste management sector.
Donna Druce, Team Coordinator

CommunityCheck is due to make a splash in Rutland this spring
The CommunityCheck project has been given the go-ahead by Rutland County Council to start this April. Our approach to promoting sustainable consumption in communities combines resource efficiency, through EcoChecks, and enriching the local economy and environment, through LocalChecks. RCC’s Community Team saw the potential for CommunityChecks to help them achieve many of their environmental objectives within the Plan for Rutland 2005 – 2008. We will be working with the Environment Forum of the Local Strategic Partnership Rutland Together to ensure these objectives are met. The CommunityChecks project to develop this approach in four local authority areas within the East Midlands in order to help DEFRA find effective ways of helping communities to consume more sustainably. This move to Rutland couldn’t be better timed as plans are being unveiled for all StudentForce staff to relocate to new offices at Oakham railway station, right in the heart of Rutland.
Stephen Passmore - Volunteering Projects Manager

Millennium Volunteers develop fair trade tuck shop
A group of over thirty Millennium Volunteers from Moat Community College, Leicester, have just opened a tuck shop as part of Fair Trade Fortnight. Youth Worker Hazel Daley is passionate about getting young people empowered and active in their communities. So StudentForce facilitated a session that identified their main interests and kicked off a youth-led project - our favourite kind!
The project started to focus on food, the homeless and healthy eating among their peers. But it was the idea of fair trade that united them. We explained that they by selling fair trade products they would be helping to provide poor producers in developing countries with a stable and adequate price for their produce. So indirectly the young people would be helping to feed them, as well as to provide education and healthcare. Fair trade goods are simple, unprocessed and often organic too so promote the idea of consumers’ healthy eating. But it goes further, addressing the health of the producers too and with Fair trade fortnight beginning in a couple of weeks, timing was perfect.
The MVs spoke with the canteen manager about using a counter and storage area and about the kind of stock they could sell. They had to fit in with the school's healthy eating policy - so no chocolate! There wasn’t enough time or confidence to do a presentation to raise other pupils’ awareness and to promote their enterprise. So one MV Tanya Butt, took the lead and made sure reminder notes went into registers and designed market research surveys. Teachers were the first customers depleting the whole stock of delicious flapjacks. However they made donations as they were clearly persuaded that buying fair trade was a good idea. The MVs decided to use the donations to buy fresh organic produce, a gap in the school canteen’s market, from the Co-op, provide free tasters and raise awareness of fair trade. We hope that awakening their customers’ consciences will help to develop both their palettes and the tuck shop enterprise. If all goes well the next step is to set up a co-operative, buy fair trade goods at cost price, make a profit, grow and develop the enterprise. Then perhaps the MVs will tender for the school catering contract!
Stephanie Blackwell, Millennium Volunteer Coordinator

Networks for people and habitats
Networks of people are as important as habitat networks when it comes to conservation management. StudentForce are doing their bit to promoting both types of network by offering their services to support the networks in the East of England and East Midlands Regions. The Graduate Resource team is concentrating its efforts on matching the need for networking between various environmental organisations, public and private bodies, with the need to increase paid placement opportunities for recent graduates in this environmental sector. David Murray adds “I hope that by working with a network of organisations involved with conservation management we will boost regional biodiversity as well as opportunities for graduate employment.”
David Murray, Graduate Resource Coordinator

Competencies for a Sustainable Work life

StudentForce is currently developing a set of competencies which will describe the key attributes, values and behaviours demonstrated by people who strive for sustainability in the workplace. Sustainability Competencies will build on a series of Student Employability Profiles (SEPs), published by the Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE), that are designed to identify sets of work-related skills which can be gained from studying a particular subject. The CIHE, in partnership with the Enhancing Student Employability Co-ordination Team and the Higher Education Academy designed SEPs with employers, and academics in mind – helping them appreciate the qualities that specific can graduates can bring to an organisation. StudentForce’s contribution to this project is in keeping with the goals set out in the Government’s Strategy for Sustainable Development which aims to make sure that - Sustainability Literacy becomes a core competency for professional graduates. A description of the Sustainability Competencies will be available on the www.environmentcareers.org.uk website by the end of the year.
Click here to link to a recent article on Graduate Employability for Sustainability.
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

Exploring a regional ESD partnership

The United Nations and the UK government have both been raising the profile of education for sustainable development. The UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development will launched in the UK at a London conference on December 13th (http://www.dfes.gov.uk/aboutus/sd/). The following day will see the East Midlands hosting a meeting to explore the value of becoming a Regional Centre of Expertise for education for sustainable development. The region already has several partnerships, considerable activity and many organisations with a real commitment to promoting more effective education, training, staff development and employment linked to sustainability and a range of strategies. The following file give an idea of the range of activity and opportunities.
See attached PDF files for further information: RCEEMFundingOpps_v0 1  RCEEMTelConfReport_v0 2  RCEProposalSummary_v0 3  MapRCEtoStrategies_v0 1  UNU RCE Revised draft Concept Paper  05 09 07 ESD GO N ETWORK Notes
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

Job Searching Goes Green

Green and eager graduates seeking their ideal employer are now able to benefit from the critically needed guidance offered by our recently launched website, www.environmentcareers.org.uk.

The site was developed by StudentForce in partnership with The Institution of Environmental Sciences, and with funding from the Duke of Westminster. It is the first portal in Europe specifically targeted at young people aspiring to become environmental professionals. Whilst the number of job opportunities in this sector is increasing worldwide, the essential relevant experience often expected by many employers can leave graduates stuck in the proverbial rut. The need for a comprehensive mix of information such as that provided by www.environmentcareers.org.uk has long been recognised, with many young people unable to secure a move onto the environmental career ladder. The website promotes environmental careers by referring users to over 500 websites, as well as giving up-to-date, expert careers information and advice.
Ian Tennant, Environment Careers Volunteer.

International networking and promotion

StudentForce attended The 3rd World Environmental Education Congress in Turin, Italy submitting a presentation and poster on Young people, Learning, Employability and Sustainability. The Congress attracted over 1,500 educators from nearly 100 countries to Turin in Italy. Surprisingly there were only a few UK delegates. It gave StudentForce an opportunity to promote its new Environmental Careers website to an international audience. Good contacts were established with US, Canadian, Australian and European University educators and environmental agencies. We are now contributing to the trialling of a UNEP Environmental Ethics Handbooks for use in our Learning Workshops, as well as promoting the new idea of Regional Centres of Expertise for Education for Sustainable Development, perhaps in the East Midlands. Some of the most stimulating presentations were from Fritjof Capra, a leading green thinker, Mikhael Gorbachov, President of Green Cross, and founders of both Ecover and the Slow Food Movement. The vast range of imaginative education bodes well for the launch of the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development in 2005.
See www.3weec.org  Download the PDF presentation
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

StudentForce Volunteers help out at world’s biggest Bird Fair

During the summer months it has been none stop volunteering with the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust at Egleton in Rutland. Both Fran and Vicky (in the Picture) have been busy not only maintaining this wildlife haven with grass cutting, fence/gate repairs, but also with the construction of new ponds. In August they helped transform part of the Nature reserve into the annual Bird Fair which is now the largest event of its kind in the world.
Jane Keal, Millennium Volunteer Support Officer.

New CommunityCheck training in Northampton

Nine new volunteer Checkers have just been introduced to our brand new training workshop for the CommunityCheck project in Northampton. The training was introduced to a team of Recycling Promoters, who are all recent graduates working with Northamptonshire County Council.
The morning began with a viewing of the popular and amusing video ‘Joyce’s Choices’ and followed with a discussion on how this relates to the CommunityCheck project. After a short tea break we split into pairs and ran through a checklist for scoring the environmental performance of a fictitious building. There were many impressive performances, especially from Cheryl the hairdresser! The morning finished with a short talk and exercise on marketing. The group wrote short press releases on their morning and came up with some excellent ideas. They had really understood the training.
The new training was a great success. Donna Druce, the Manager of the Recycling Promoters team, said “ it has been a very worthwhile morning which would give her team a wider understanding of issues surrounding sustainability.” We are looking forward to getting them out and about in Northamptonshire carrying out Checks.
Caroline Shannon - CommunityCheck Coordinator Northamptonshire

Warming to a partner’s new office

The eagerly anticipated move of Peterborough Environment City Trust to The Green House in Peterborough recently came to a crescendo of popping champagne corks, flashing camera bulbs and enthusiastic conversation. StudentForce currently have 4 Project Workers placed with PECT - Janice Ansine, Susan Horsman, Amanda Swinford and Emma Pollard. We also have strong links with a number of other projects including the Business Environment and Management Scheme (BEMS) which StudentForce helped develop and staff.
PECT, along with the Wildlife Trust, Sustrans and Energy Saving Trust Anglia Centre (ESTAC) have joined together under one roof and it is expected that environmental partnership working in Peterborough with StudentForce will flourish as a result. The official opening also offered an opportunity to say huge thanks to two trustees who have provided unwavering support to PECT over the years, including Alistair Stirling, a resident in Ketton.
Rachel Huxley, Graduate Resource Project Manager

Wheelie good idea!

StudentForce and City of York Council have been working together to recruit and train a new team of Recycling Promoters. The seven month project coincides with the introduction of a new twin-bin scheme to 60,000 residents and it is hoped that the new team will educate, support and help the public leading to a smooth implementation phase. The team, led by Ben Velmans includes local graduate Jonny Morley, Lisa Shaw and Abi Irojah. It is anticipated that the team will receive plenty of media coverage so watch this space!
Rachel Huxley, Graduate Resource Project Manager

StudentForce President developing sustainable communities in Bangladesh

The President of StudentForce, Professor Stephen Martin, and his wife Maureen will soon be returning to Bangladesh for about two months in order to continue their good work on a long-term project aimed at teaching English language in Bengali secondary schools.
During this visit Stephen and Maureen hope to implement steps which will make the teaching of English language in Bangladesh a more sustainable practice. The development of an in-service teacher training scheme and the recruitment of a home-grown Executive Director will lessen the dependence of support for this work from the UK. Since the War of Independence in 1971 the quality of life for the vast majority of people in Bangladesh has declined. English is one of the most important factors which will to allow Bengalis to participate in global issues and thus increase their future standard of living.
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

Partnership with another environmental professional body

StudentForce has formed a partnership with the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) in order to further our mutual goal of supporting and encouraging the professional development of graduates in the environmental field. We are already partners with the Institution of Environmental Sciences for our environmental careers website. Both IEMA and IES are members of The Society for the Environment (www.socenv.org.uk) with its network of 14 or more environmental professional bodies.
Joining as a graduate not only keeps you up to date with current environmental issues but also more importantly, supports your professional development for a career in environmental management and related fields. You must have graduated within the last two years to be eligible for the normal graduate membership of IEMA. However all StudentForce registered graduates are eligible for the Graduate membership.
David Murray, Graduate Resource Sustainability Coordinator.

Greening Careers Advice

StudentForce has just launched a new website to enable young people and career changers to learn about and search for the right environmental career. It is www.environmentcareers.org.uk. The site has been developed in partnership with The Institution of Environmental Sciences and with funding from the Duke of Westminster.
Jobs in the environment are increasing worldwide. There are also more and more educated young people wanting to get environmental jobs or work for organisations that have greened themselves. So there is a real need for a comprehensive website on how to get the jobs and find the organisations. This is the only European portal for young people wanting to become environmental professionals. It refers them to over 500 websites, but also gives up-to-date, expert careers information and advice. This includes recent trends and future opportunities, opportunities in the environment sector, main career areas, employer and career profiles, courses and qualifications, applications and interviews. As well as jobs the site covers Work Experience, Placements, Internships, Gap years, Volunteering and Social Enterprise.
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

Big funding from the Big Lottery

We have just received an offer of funding for £152,234 from the Big Lottery Fund over the next three years for support work on sustainability with young people in Northamptonshire and Leicester. This funding will help the managers and users of community buildings and open spaces to involve young people in the checking and management of the building, changing the way it buys, sells and promotes goods and services, making the management of the building care more for the environment, the local economy and the local young people – more Eco-friendly, Local-friendly and Youth-friendly.
EcoChecks and LocalChecks are already being developed and promoted by StudentForce with funding from the Environmental Action Fund of DEFRA. This additional funding from the Big Lottery Fund mainly focuses on the development of YouthChecks, making the community building or open space more welcoming and accessible to young people, as well as managed more by and for them.
The Big Lottery Fund confirmed on 8th July that they would offer funding for CommunityChecks in targeted disadvantaged wards of Northamptonshire and Leicester - the 14 wards in Northamptonshire (6 – Northampton, 4 - Wellingborough, 3 – Corby, 1 – Kettering), and 19 wards in Leicester which are in the top 20% in terms of Index of Multiple Deprivation. Funding will start on October 1st.
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

Promoting Environmental Careers in the East Midlands

We have just received an offer of funding from the Government Office for the East Midlands from the regional DEFRA publicity budget The funding will enable us to promote environmental careers in general and give advice to students and graduates, Career Advisers and employers at Career and Graduate Fairs as well as at specialist environment conferences and fairs across the East Midlands. We will be offering Careers Advice professionals in the East Midlands the opportunity to learn more about environmental careers. We will also be organising some specialist Telephone Conferences for recent graduates advising them on environmental careers as well as specialist displays and presentations at University Career Fairs. Lastly we will be promoting our environmental career advice at the forthcoming World Environmental Education Conference in Turin in October.
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

Recycling promoters for Northamptonshire

A team of 10 recent graduates started the promotions phase of the Northamptonshire recycling promotions campaign on the 1st August. We have already researched the current level of participation by householder’s general attitudes to recycling and what they recycle. We will now be talking with householders on their doorsteps throughout Northamptonshire to find out any concerns they may have with their kerbside collection and encourage them to do more recycling. In the past this has been a hugely successful way of increasing recycling rates as it provides the opportunity for real dialogue rather than a one-way stream of information. We will also be promoting at events such as the Balloon Festival which should be a good way of communicating with people in a relaxed atmosphere as well as being great fun for the team.
The overall aim of the campaign is to increase participation rates within the kerbside collection scheme, increase the tonnage levels of recycled materials and increase awareness levels of the ‘Slim Your Bin’ campaign. We also aim to provide valuable work experience and training for the team making them more employable as waste management and environmental professionals.
Donna Druce - Project Coordinator

Branding CommunityCheck

With a new name and a new team comes a new marketing campaign! We have been fully occupied over the last few weeks thinking of new strap lines, logos and graphics to wow organisations and volunteers.
Ian Hurry our graphic designer has been busy with his pen, paper and computer coming up with new and inspired designs for us. The result – a new logo that brings across the idea of the CommunityCheck Project really well – fitting together the LocalCheck and EcoCheck parts of the Project like jigsaw pieces to make the CommunityCheck.
A big thanks to Ian, our steering group and everyone at StudentForce for giving us their time and advice.
Caroline Shannon - CommunityCheck Coordinator Northamptonshire

CommunityCheck joins forces in Corby

The CommunityCheck project has joined forces with Corby Volunteer Bureau recently. With this arrangement we have the use of a hot-desking area which provides us a base from which to offer training and induction to volunteers and puts us at the heart of the action for talking to community and small business organisations. Corby Volunteer Bureau will also help us to reach more potential volunteers by recommending the project to anyone interested in being part of the change they wish to see in the environment and their community.
Stephen Passmore - Volunteering Project Manager

Rain cycling for charity

Stephen Passmore (Volunteer Projects Manager) and David Murray (Sustainability Projects Coordinator) braved the torrents of rain that recently thrashed the south of England, all in the name of charity. The Breakthrough Breast Cancer 50 mile annual event from Cambridge to London saw record numbers of participants and despite the inclement weather, appeared to be enjoyed by all. One of Stephen and David's group of intrepid pedalomaniacs rode the whole way on a classic triumph (with only two and a half gears!). David is in training for another charity stint in the Alps later this year. Watch this space.
David Murray, Graduate Resource Sustainability Coordinator.

Worcestershire promoters waste no time

A new StudentForce team of Worcestershire Recycling Promoters have charged head-on through their first targets, tackling the Worcester City area in under two weeks! The team, comprising Heather Anderson (Team Leader), Patrick Cheung, Chris Jenkins and James Dyer (Recycling Promoters), have high hopes from their early success and are straight into the next round of promoting in Malvern. Well done guys!
David Murray, Graduate Resource Sustainability Coordinator.

River Care in action

Some of the StudentForce team accompanied by Hugh Cripps from Peterborough Environment City Trust and his dog Eve, carried out some much needed care on the River Welland. This was the first in a series of practical sessions, which came as a follow up to the fantastic River Care event held in June. There was quite a large turn out of volunteers to fell the Himalayan Balsam – a beautiful but invasive plant of English riverbanks, taking over from the native flora – a particularly thorny, ethnically charged conservation issue. StudentForce Networking Coordinator, David Murray said “The process can be quite therapeutic as a great form of stress release after a hard week at the office. It's also a great way of meeting like-minded people.” A further practical balsam-bashing session is being planned, so keep tuned for new information.
Scott Riley, Marketing Coordinator

Fun festival welcomes nature

Environmental awareness and concern was high on the agenda at the recent Mela Festival. The annual Anand Mela (which translates as Fun Festival) included, for the first time, a marquee dedicated to nature conservation, green spaces and local environmental issues. The "Welcome to Nature" marquee and events were organised by StudentForce Project Worker Emma Pollard who has been working with the Peterborough Environment City Trust for the past two months. With backing from local environmental organisation including English Nature and Environment Agency it is hoped that next year the events will be even bigger and better.
Nick Goodman, Training and Development Coordinator

Project Worker encourages more female engineers

A StudentForce Project Worker based with Melton Borough Council has helped over 30 young female students get their foot on the engineering career ladder. Sadia Moeed is Melton’s Land Drainage Officer and is currently managing the flood defence work being carried out at Asfordby Valley. From 11th-15th July, she took part in the running of a course called Insight, which aims to encourage more young women into engineering careers. The 36 female sixth form students from across the country had all shown an interest in engineering at school. The attended the course, run by SEMTA (Science, Engineering, Manufacturing, Technologies Alliance) at Brunel University. Sadia was one of the tutors and throughout the week shared some of her experiences, from studying for her engineering degree to then embarking on her career with Melton Borough Council. 24 year old Sadia said: ‘’The course proved extremely successful. All of the students showed great enthusiasm for engineering and all said they really enjoyed their week. Courses like Insight are really important because often students aren’t able to find out much about engineering and what it involves. The course is aimed at female students who are particularly good at Science but who may not have considered engineering as a viable career. This maybe because engineering is under-represented as a career option or because of the particular gender stereotypes associated with the field. Hopefully this course has managed to tackle some of those problems.’’
Nick Goodman, Training and Development Coordinator

CommunityChecks innovative approach goes from strength to strength

The CommunityChecks project has received funding from the Environmental Action Fund (EAF) run by DEFRA ensuring it continues until March '08. It is one of 37 pilot projects and the only one in the East Midlands region to receive this funding. We are recognised as contributing to the governments objectives for sustainable development as set out in 'Securing the Future' the UK Government sustainable development strategy. The funding will help us to promote more local, fair and environmentally friendly options for small business's and community organisations. We do this with trained volunteers interested in sustainability issues who help to check and support organisations' so their staff, visitors and local community can all benefit and get involved.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/funding/schemes/eaf.htm
Stephen Passmore - Volunteering Project Manager

Staff changes for CommunityChecks
The rapidly developing CommunityChecks project team has welcomed three new faces in the space of 6 weeks! I have started recently as Project Manager, I've a degree in Environmental Studies and have worked on an energy efficiency project with Powergen, my last place of work. I am very pleased that Caroline Shannon and Anna Willett have joined me and that we now have a complete team working hard on this exciting project. Both found out about the posts through the Graduate Resource team, so a big thank you to them. Anna has a degree in Environment and Business and was working as a Recycling Project Officer in Peterborough. Caroline has a degree in Ecology, having joined us from a post at Cambridge University and enjoys doing conservation work. You will here more from us soon on the StudentForce website. I should say also a special thank you to Susan Horsman who has left the team recently. In the short amount of time I worked with her she did an amazing and dedicated job and definitely finished on a high. She presented CommunityChecks to the Confederation of Indian Organisations and signed up the majority of guests on the spot! She will be missed.
Stephen Passmore - Volunteering Project Manager

22 year old completes century!
Millennium Volunteer Daniel Churchill has just completed a century of hours volunteering at the StudentForce office for a couple of days each week. During his hours Daniel has helped to develop databases for the Graduate Resource team and CommunityChecks project as well as helping to develop the Environmental Careers website. He is now looking forward to the challenge of completing the full two hundred hours for an Award signed by the Secretary of State. Daniel has a degree in Artificial Intelligence with Robotics and hopes to start an MPhil in Intelligence Robotics.
Sara Branch, Resources Manager.

StudentForce takes on recycling promotion for Northamptonshire
The Graduate Resource team has successfully been awarded the tender for the large-scale recycling promotions campaign for the Northamptonshire Waste Partnership. Working in partnership with Waste Watch, StudentForce aims to reach 10% of Northamptonshire residents to promote recycling and discuss any issues householders might have with the kerbside collection schemes. StudentForce and Waste Watch have teamed up in the past to deliver the hugely successful Essex Rethink Rubbish campaign, one of the national pioneering projects to promote recycling face-to-face. The project is already off to a great start, Donna Druce has just been recruited as the Project Coordinator. She'll be working with Anna Coates from Waste Watch, Sheridan Hornsby from Northamptonshire County Council and Rachel Huxley from Graduate Resource. Rachel Huxley, Graduate Resource Project Manager

Campaigning Ben wins national Volunteer Award

Ben Cartwright (17) one of our StudentForce Millennium Volunteers, has been campaigning for a Skate Park at Wittering for the past four years. His volunteering has already been rewarded by being part of the Millennium Volunteers program, and due to this he was nominated for the Deutsche Bank Spotlight Award. He recently attended the Award ceremony in London and was totally surprised to have won £1,000 for all his volunteering efforts for the local community of skaters.
Jane Keal, Millennium Volunteer Support Officer.

Cuban bar wins environment award

The StudentForce CommunityCheck project has helped Barceloneta become the greenest restaurant and bar in Leicester by scooping a silver certificate at the Green Life Awards, an event organised by Leicester Environment Partnership.  Barceloneta incorporated a large number of environmental measures into the building including under floor heating, waterless urinals, and sensor taps. John Husain, Manager of Barceloneta, says, “If death and taxes are certainties in life, so is the continually increasing cost of energy, water and waste. An EcoCheck survey is a great way to focus on these costs and produce significant savings. I am not a veggie eating, whale saving, sandal wearing environmentalist. But I do know that reducing the negative impact of your business on the environment does have a positive impact on your bottom line. An EcoCheck survey can prove it.”
Susan Horsman, Leicester CommunityCheck Coordinator.

StudentForce team of Project Workers green Norwich
StudentForce and Norfolk County Council are embarked on a new project to promote Green Waste recycling at four recycling centres around Norwich. An enthusiastic team of three Recycling Advisers and one Recycling Team Leader are into their second week of promotion at the centres. The team will be helping the public segregate their waste and will provide an information link between the Council and the general public.
David Murray, Graduate Resource Sustainability Coordinator.

Star volunteer gets national Award
One of our star volunteers has just been accepted for the Nationwide Awards for Voluntary Endeavour which will be confirmed in July. Mike Keynes has volunteered tirelessly for StudentForce over the last four years, often for 2-3 days each week. He has been trainer, mentor, recruiter, facilitator, job interviewer, vice-chair, chair and absolute star! He has genuine selfless enthusiasm and commitment to the development and training of young people as countless staff, volunteers and former placed graduates will confirm.
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

Graduate staff changes
The Graduate Resource team has had a new addition for 2005, David Murray who started in February. David has a degree in Geography and a masters in environmental conservation management. His area of interest is biodiversity and conservation and he's looking to market for Project Work in this field. David thoroughly enjoys working as part of the GR team and has already established good relations with our graduates and clients. Sadly we're also about to experience our first loss of 2005, Sandra Booth will be moving on in June. Although we will miss Sandy hugely she is moving on to a fantastic job in Cardiff. So we're thrilled with another successful GR placement. Sandy will manage the development of a new community garden scheme. We're extremely happy that she will be continuing a successful career in sustainable development and wish her every success.
Rachel Huxley, Graduate Resource Project Manager.

Engaging Communities in environmental projects
Sandra Booth, one of our Graduate Resource Team staff, recently attended an excellent 2-day training course in York organized by the Environmental Training Network. It included a whole lot of community planning techniques, many of which can be found on www.communityplanning.net and www.partnerships.org.uk. Adam Cade, StudentForce’s Executive Director, co-wrote An Environment for Everyone – Poverty, Exclusion and Environmental Action which was published by the Community Development Foundation - a report that looks at how disadvantaged groups can be supported to become more involved in environmental activity. StudentForce is actively trying to do more work on environmental community development.
Adam Cade, Chief Executive.

Welland River Day in full flow!
StudentForce has joined forces with a number of local environmental enthusiasts to form the Stamford RiverCare Group. With an aim to boost public involvement and engagement with the river environment the group has organised a Family Fun Day event on Sunday 5th June. The event includes displays from the Environment Agency, English Nature and the local Recycling Officer as well as guided walks, crafts and activities for all ages. StudentForce Training and Development Coordinator Nick Goodman said "It's a great way for StudentForce to gain links in other environmental fields whilst strengthening the ones we already have. It is also a great opportunity to give something back to the local community and raise the important issues of sustainability".
Nick Goodman, Training and Development Coordinator

AOK for PDA

StudentForce's City and Guilds accreditation, the Professional Development Award (PDA) in Sustainability, is proving to be increasingly popular. At present there are almost 20 graduate Project Workers and staff undertaking the award. Their completed plans, logs and reports are continually being assessed. The PDA is an excellent chance for Project Workers to monitor, review and evaluate their progress and provides another string to their CV bow upon completion.
Nick Goodman, GR Training and Development Coordinator

Directors on the road to better governance
The nine StudentForce Directors have now committed themselves to following the Good Governance Action Plan produced by NCVO. With the Director's help StudentForce has already got PQASSO Level 2 - the voluntary sector's quality management standard. Having also go the Investors in People for its commitment to staff, volunteer and user training and development, it is now going for the IIP Model in Leadership and Management. Studentforce is one of the few charities in the East Midlands that has made this level of commitment to learning, governance and professional development. As Mike Keynes, the Vice-Chair, said " I am leading this initiative with another Director, Bob Burton, in order to lead, review and support the charity to the best possible standards."
Mike Keynes, Vice Chair.

StudentForce branching out



Training will have a double meaning for us if we get new training facilities in Oakham Railway Station. Sara Branch, our Resources Manager, is currently negotiating with Central Trains and Network Rail for the long-term lease of the old stationmaster’s house. This would be an ideal base for our training, as well as our two volunteering projects - CommunityCheck and Millennium Volunteers.
Sara Branch, Resources Manager.