Volunteer Experience
Events are only considered successful when our volunteers feel safe, stress-free and cared for before, during and after a competition day. The main aim is for both students and volunteers to have a rewarding day and your experience as a volunteer is determined by you and your fellow volunteers.
The purpose of this page is to provide a guide for volunteers on the main aspects of supporting an event, the measures in place to help you during the day, as well as to provide tips and tricks to improve your time at the competition.
Before Competition Day
The UKSDC is proud to have large and growing group of volunteers and supporters. If you’re an UKSDC alumni, space enthusiast or just want to become involved in supporting the competition, we would like to welcome you to our team.
If you are new to volunteering, please contact Sam Hession, our Head of Events and Administration, by email at [email protected]. From there, you can be added to our volunteer group chat where we will share competition announcements, volunteer news and information on how to sign up to assist in events.
Through this, you will be connected to the registration form where you will be able to see our roster of events across the UK and sign up to where you would like to volunteer. Please sign up for events with reasonable discretion.
- We value your help at event, but we always want you to prioritise your personal commitments and any pressing work associated to your education or occupation.
- If you are a first time volunteer, try to go to regional competitions that have lots of SSEF staff and experienced volunteers present. There, our existing volunteers will be able to better guide you through the organisation of the competition and supporting competitors.
- During some weeks, multiple events are being run and therefore it may not be possible for all SSEF organising staff to be present. We recommend signing up to these events if you are an experienced volunteer who would like to develop operations and organisational experience. Otherwise, choosing a competition that is the lone event running on a given date may be more suitable.
To verify SSEF staff precense or further information regarding volunteer registration Contact Sam Hession, at [email protected].
We want to ensure that all volunteer needs are being catered to and supported, therefore, please contact the organising staff if you have any personal requests regarding your health or well-being. This may include:
- Being provided with a meal alternative if you have any dietary requirements.
- Having dedicated support from a fellow volunteer if you are facing an unexpected issue during the event.
- Being provided with a designated space for any health, religious or personal needs.
We know that often circumstances emerge after you have signed up for an event, which makes it difficult for you to attend or support an event. If this is the case, we encourage you to contact SSEF staff at your earliest convenience.
If you would still like to support an event but have limited time due to an extenuating circumstance, there are different ways the organising staff may be able to assist you.
- If you have a pertaining education or work commitment, such as a coursework deadline or scheduled meeting, you may request to be provided with a workspace separate from the event on the day.
- If you are only available for part of the day, please contact us stating the times you can be present during an event and it may be possible to arrange a replacement for your role.
Requests can be made anytime between initial sign-up and the competition day, we ask however that you contact us as soon as you are able, so staff have time to best meet your request.
Contact us through either Jenny Lyons, [email protected] or Sam Hession, [email protected]
It’s competition day! To ensure you are best prepared before an event please make sure you have completed the following:
1. Have been added to the event-specific group chat.
This is where all event announcements and volunteer information will be shared. Additionally, if you run into issues on the day of the competition, this group chat is the best place to find support.
2. Bring a Laptop, Charger, Notepad and Pen
These will be your main tools in assisting with event organisation and helping competitors. Please note these are not a requirement to bring, but will aid your experience as a volunteer.
3. Bring a packed lunch, if instructed by SSEF staff
Volunteers’ lunch and dinner will be catered during most events. In some exceptional circumstances, this will not be possible and you will be asked to bring food with you by SSEF staff either in the event onboarding email or on the event group chat. Please also bring water and any personal snacks,
On Competition Day
We’ve made it to the competition day!
Prior to event kick-off and the introductory presentation, a volunteer briefing will take place where all necessary announcements will be made. Information such as volunteer role and company allocations will be communicated prior to the event but will be repeated during the briefing, as well as changes to arrangements or scheduling.
Company-specific volunteers will be informed of any students with additional personal needs and the required steps to take if assistance is required.
This briefing will also be an opportunity to meet your fellow volunteers, ask any questions you may have specific to the event or be provided with general volunteering advice.
We encourage all volunteers during the event to take breaks when needed for meals, resting or finding support. Remember: we encourage students to take these same breaks in order for them to rejuvenate themselves between extended periods of work, to protect their mental health, continue instigating positive interactions within their company, and to maintain productivity. Therefore, it can be beneficial to lead by example. Moreover, when it comes to being stationed in company rooms we encourage the following practice:
- Please ensure at least two volunteers are present in the company room during the time allocated for student work on competition day. This is to ensure student support work can be distributed amongst volunteers and additional help in the event of an incident can be provided.
- Communication with individual students should take place in the company room or a separate room if sensitive, where a fellow volunteer is present. This is to provide support as well as a second-hand account in the case of a reportable incident. Please note that it is not a volunteer’s job to resolve such incidents if they arise and the event’s Child Protection Officer (CPO) should be notified immediately when these situations occur.
- Company-specific volunteers, such as CEO’s, are encouraged to call for additional support from TA’s if they need to leave the company room or require more help in their company; this can be done through the event group chat.
- Please ensure lunch breaks are no more than hour and any additional breaks are between 15-20 minutes.
Every volunteer has experienced imposter syndrome at some point and it is a completely normal experience to have as a volunteer. If you are finding this to be a paticularly challenging, we encourage you take the following steps to help ease your experience:
1, Acknowledge Feelings of Imposter Syndrome
You’re not an imposter, you’re actually pretty amazing!
Being a volunteer often comes with a new and unexpected set of challenges. There is no such thing as a perfect volunteer and feeling imposter syndrome is a very real and valid experience. We encourage you to reach out help and use challenges as a learning experiences; often your help is more impactful then you may believe and any help you provide a student goes a long way.
2. Set trackable and achieveable personal goals
One way of easing imposter syndrome is to set achieveable goals for your role and tracking these throughout the competititon. Examples of this could include:
- Annotating your RFP copy with anticipated issues or questions to pose to competitors
- Arranging a check-in meeting with a particular volunteer, student or group of competitiors
- Providing comments on your company’s presentation at scheduled points in the day
- Having planned break and passover times if you are in need of rest during the day
3. Start a conversation with a fellow volunteer
We pride ourselves in fostering a supportive community of volunteers, so please speak with a fellow volunteer if you are struggling.
You will often find you are often not alone in having feelings of imposter syndrome and sharing your experience will often help you find mutual support with a fellow volunteer. If you are finding a particular aspect of the competition challenging, please reach out to any of the event supporting staff for advice.
For further understanding of imposter syndrome, we recommend this article from the American Psychological Association
After Competition Day
We encourage you to include your experience volunteering at the UKSDC on your CV and future applications.
Examples of skills you may have developed include:
- Mentoring and providing technical guidance to students aged 15 to 18 in STEM project work.
- Facilitated regional and/or national scale events, developing event planning and organisational experience.
- Worked as part of a large team or network of volunteers in collaborating to meet event demands and ensure the smooth running of an event.
- Presented technical briefings or presentations, advising students on key transferable skills such as problem-solving, communication and team organisation.
We would love to hear about your volunteer experience at an event.
If an incident occurs during an event which involves volunteer/student safety, there will be a transparent and private protocol for reporting the circumstance to the organising staff.
Examples of potential incidents:
A student has an allergic reaction, an incident where a supporting teacher needs to be consulted, a student shares personal or confidential information, an incident where first aid is involved, inappropriate comments or behaviour from students/volunteers, or between volunteers, volunteer-to-student or student-to-student.
The incident report form can be found here.
Volunteers who have travelled cross-country for an event can claim back travel expenses when written permission and acknowledgement of the claim has been approved by SSEF staff. This needs to be attained prior to booking; copies of travel tickets and confirmation of accommodation is required for a successful claim. Bank statements are insufficient and will not be accepted. The SSEF will purchase your rail and accomodation expenses up to one week before before an event. You can claim back your travel expenses within one calender month after the event.
Please email your expense receipt and information to Sam Hession, at [email protected].