WHEN was the last time you did a good deed?

Students gathered in Bonn Square, Oxford, yesterday to make sure it was a regular occurrence by encouraging passers-by to pledge to do so.

They got the public to write down what they were going to do and formed a paper chain out of their answers.

It was part of Student Volunteering Week, which runs until Friday.

Lucie Coussmaker, manager at Oxford Hub and organiser of the week, said: “It’s really important for students to engage with the local community.

“Student Volunteering Week is an opportunity to engage in a one-off volunteering event, but we’re hoping lots of people will use this as a springboard to get involved long-term.”

The 22-year-old added: “We don’t want it to be that they do a good deed on Monday and then forget about it.

“Oxford can provide very good academic training, but we want students to look outside of that. It’s really important that they get involved with  other things outside of the Oxford bubble.”

Henry Owen, an Oxford University student who has helped organise the week, added: “This week is a great way to promote what activities we do to volunteer, and showing that a lot of students are doing it and that it’s normal to do it.

“It’s hard for students to volunteer, especially at Oxford where things are so busy, and this way they don’t have to commit to the whole week, but just bits of it. Everyone will be available at some point during the week.”

The 22-year-old biomedical sciences student added: “We have over 50 student volunteering groups.

“This is a great way of sharing the work they do locally, internationally and politically.”

Heather Saunders, publicity officer for Oxford Brookes’ Hub and a third-year film student, said: “It will be really nice for all of the students in Oxford to come together and celebrate volunteering.

“For Oxford Brookes students, we’re not in the city centre, so I’m hoping that this will make some of our students see just how easy it is for them to get involved.”

GET INVOLVED

  • Today – Speaker event: Perspectives on Homelessness, Oxford Hub 7-9pm
  •  Tomorrow – Film screening and discussion of Blood Brothers, Oxford Hub, 5pm-7pm
  • Thursday – Ethical fashion fair, Town Hall, 1-7pm
  • Charity Social at the Big Bang
  • Friday – Volunteer Fair and Tea Party, Oxford Hub, 3-5pm
  • Saturday – Mass litter pick in East Oxford, 1-3pm
  • Celebration event for volunteers who have gone the extra mile. A dinner will be served using food that would otherwise needlessly go to waste.