University of Manchester ISoc: Volunteering with MEND

On Monday 1^st February, MEND Manchester presented to members of the UoM ISoc to explain to them the volunteering opportunities within the organisation. We were happy to speak to a large group of students and take them through the volunteer journey that MEND offers.

During the presentation, we started off by going over the main aims of MEND to highlight the objectives that we work towards as an organisation. The attendees were then told about the structure of MEND and the three different arms that work together to tackle Islamophobia. The Policy team and the Community team carry out very different and very important tasks to ensure that we are responding effectively to the problem at hand. We mentioned that MEND has Working Groups full of volunteers up and down the country and how these local teams work on local projects that are important to the community at hand.

MEND Manchester then took the attendees through the journey that volunteers take when volunteering for MEND. The process begins with an induction for volunteers that lays out the organisation and the progression plan that volunteers engage with during their time with MEND. Volunteers then join a working group in their locality allowing them to meet the other volunteers in their area. All our volunteers have the opportunity to then engage with our numerous ongoing education and training opportunities to increase their knowledge of Islamophobia and build the skills required to engage with the Muslim and Wider community. Volunteers can then use their experience and interests to take on specialist roles in their working groups. Working with MEND, our volunteers organise campaigns throughout the year to work toward our goal of tackling Islamophobia.

Many thanks to UoM ISoc for inviting us to speak to their members and we hope they were able to get an idea of the opportunities MEND can provide.

If you’d like to start your volunteer journey with MEND, register your details at mend.org.uk/volunteer