Volunteering & work in Galashiels

Opportunities to give back to the community or earn yourself some extra pennies...with some nice freebies thrown in too!

Volunteering is easy

The first place to start is internal, with Heriot-Watt offering the chance to either volunteer as a committee member for a society or sports club. You can also sign yourself up to be a student ambassador (so help on open days, inductions, etc) and this sometimes is paid work too!

Outside of the uni, there are local organisations you can choose to volunteer for. For example, there is a Peer Connecting Volunteer for Health in Mind. You can speak to the Peer Connecting Support and Development Worker, Christopher (telephone: 01896 807 000, Email: christopher.boyce@health-in-mind.org.uk).

Volunteer Borders is a great website to visit featuring a variety of volunteering opportunities with different organisations across the Scottish Borders.

When volunteering for the university or the wider community you can log your volunteering hours to gain awards that will appear on your final transcript. These are as follows:

• Bronze Award - 50 hours and 5 employability skills
• Silver Award - 100 hours and 5 employability skills
• Gold Award - 200 hours and 6 employability skills
• Platinum Award - 300 hours and 6 employability skills
• Ruby Award - 400 hours and 7 employability skills
• Diamond Award - 500 hours and 7 employability skills

To top it off there is an annual celebration of the university volunteers, to celebrate all the society leaders, class reps, school officers and a whole host of others!

Work

If you're in need of a healthy income then start with Indeed and LinkedIn. Indeed is great for finding available jobs close to you and makes the application process really easy (if you upload your CV). You can set your parameters based on salary or whether it's part-time or full-time. Then LinkedIn is useful for selling your employability in your own way. Create a profile that shows off your best strengths and keep in the loop with opportunities that might not post on job searching sights. A lot of students tend to find good part-time jobs that still allow for enough time to study at local employers such as Tesco, Asda, McDonalds and other restaurants. 

Free things!

Here are a bunch of freebies you can get (if you qualify) either by signing up or flashing your student ID:

• NHS Dental Care (free for anyone under 26 years old)
• Sanitary products (free and can be found in most university bathrooms or use the “pickupmyperiod” app to find other locations)
  IOS App
  Android App
• Prescriptions (If you require medication then visit your GP and they will write you a prescription to collect with 0 charges)
• Eye Tests (Everyone is entitled to 1 free eye test per year)
• Unidays & Student Beans App/Website (many student deals with well-known brands & food chains, log in using the university email)

Many stores/restaurants will have student discounts so it's always worth a try to ask before you pay.

So roll up those sleeves, get to work and don't miss out on all these freebies!

There is also more information on Galashiels available, check out these articles:

• Things to do
• Food & shopping
• Societies, fitness & well-being