‘Perfect Match’ is one of UTS SOUL’s signature events. It’s a speed-networking event that allows students to engage with 11 different community organisations in the space of two hours. Claire Pettigrew, the SOUL Coordinator, explains that the event aims to facilitate volunteer opportunities for students and provide exposure to a range of community projects. She believes the event “allows for a deeper engagement with organisations than what they’ll find at a volunteer expo and lets organisations actually get a feel for the students and what their interests are”.
SOUL and UTS: Careers hosted the first Perfect Match for 2015 in May, to celebrate National Volunteer Week. 100 students came along to hear presentations from a range of organisations including Batyr, Shine for Kids, The Smith Family, the Bread and Butter Project and Assistance Dogs Australia. They also got a chance to speak directly with people from each organisation and were able to learn about the different opportunities available.
“I love to volunteer and meet new people. Perfect Match created lots of opportunities to join interesting, charitable organisations while at university” – Student
The organisations are chosen to offer students many types of volunteering opportunities in organisations that work in different areas of the community. For example, volunteers who signed up with Batyr would have the chance to help with ongoing campaigns and events, whilst volunteers who were interested in Assistance Dogs Australia could be involved in a more one-off role by helping at their annual event, International Assistance Dogs Week.
“I wanted to gain insight into various organisations that I could join or volunteer with and Perfect Match exceeded my expectations. I loved what each organisation had to offer.” – Student
For the organisations, the volunteers they gain from the event can provide invaluable support and help them develop their capacity therefore enhancing their impact on the community. A representative from the Bread and Butter Project explained that their organisation left the event with more volunteers, greater awareness of their organisation and the feeling that they were part of an extensive not-for-profit community. Scott Thompson from Shine for Kids said their organisation also had a great experience with fantastic results; “We could never have had access to so many interested people without the support of an event like Perfect Match”.
The event was a great success with over 406 matches generated between students and organisations, with most students signing up to at least four organisations.
The next Perfect Match event will be on Friday 7th August, 2015 from 10am-12pm. If you’d like to get your organisation involved contact Claire at soul.award@uts.edu.au
If you'd like to sign up as a student click here.