Volunteering at university is one of the rare things that boosts your social life, your wellbeing and your CV all at once — and through RAG, student fundraising raises millions for charity every year. It may be the best-value time you spend at uni.
Key Takeaways:
- Why should I volunteer at university? Because it pays back in four directions at once: it makes friends (shared purpose is one of the best ways to connect), it lifts your wellbeing, it builds skills employers genuinely want, and it does real good. Few other ways of spending your time deliver all of that together.
- What is RAG? RAG stands for Raise and Give — the student fundraising tradition run by students’ unions, organising charity events, challenges (treks, “jailbreaks”, sponsored stunts) and a flagship RAG Week. It’s volunteering at its most social and fun, and student RAGs collectively raise large sums for charity each year.
- How do I get involved? Start with your students’ union’s volunteering hub, sign up at the freshers’ fair, and look for your university’s volunteering award scheme. Begin small and pick a cause you actually care about, and keep it proportionate to your studies — scale back during heavy assessment periods rather than over-committing.
Volunteering is one of the most rewarding and most underrated things you can do at university, and one of the rare activities that pays you back in several directions at once. It makes you friends, it does genuine good, it builds skills employers actually want, and it tends to lift your own wellbeing in the process — all from giving some of your time. Through RAG, the student fundraising tradition, universities collectively raise millions for charity every year, and there are countless other ways to get involved beyond it. This guide covers volunteering at university properly: what it is (including what RAG is), why it is worth doing, the different ways to take part, how to get involved, and how to fit it around your degree.
It is written for any student curious about giving something back or getting more out of university than lectures and nights out — including those who want to make friends through doing something meaningful, and anyone thinking ahead to their CV. The single most useful thing to know is that volunteering is one of the few activities that genuinely boosts your social life, your wellbeing and your employability simultaneously, which makes it some of the best-value time you can spend at university. Most of it runs through your students’ union and sits alongside the wider world of societies and clubs. The rest of this is how to make the most of it.
What student volunteering and RAG are
Student volunteering simply means giving your time, unpaid, to help a cause, a charity or your community — and at university it comes in an enormous range of forms, from a single afternoon to a weekly commitment to helping run a national fundraising effort. Universities and students’ unions actively organise and support it, so it is far more accessible than students often assume; you do not have to find opportunities entirely on your own.
RAG is the one piece of jargon worth knowing. It stands for Raise and Give (sometimes Raising and Giving), and it is the long-standing student fundraising tradition run by students’ unions across the UK. RAG organises charity fundraising events, challenges and campaigns throughout the year, often building to a “RAG Week” of activities, and student RAGs collectively raise very large sums for charity annually. It is volunteering with a particular flavour — fundraising-focused, often big, social and a bit mad — and it is one of the most visible ways students give back. But it is only one part of a much wider volunteering picture, which also includes regular community volunteering, course-linked schemes, mentoring, conservation, and running the societies and clubs that make a campus work. Knowing the landscape helps you find the bit that fits you.
Why volunteer at university?
Volunteering is sometimes framed as pure selflessness, but the honest case for it is that it benefits you as much as the cause — and naming those benefits openly makes it easier to commit to.
The first is friendship and belonging: volunteering puts you alongside people who care about the same thing you do, working towards a shared goal, which is one of the most natural ways to form real connections — exactly the repeated, purpose-driven contact the making friends guide identifies as the engine of friendship. The second is wellbeing: doing something meaningful and helping others is genuinely good for your own mental health, giving a sense of purpose and perspective that the self-focused grind of study can lack. The third is skills and employability: volunteering builds real, demonstrable skills — teamwork, organisation, communication, leadership, project management — that employers value and that give you concrete things to talk about, which matters enormously for your CV and graduate applications. And the fourth, not to be lost in the others, is the impact itself: you do actual good, for causes and communities that benefit from it. Few other ways of spending your time deliver all four at once. That is the real argument for it.
The different ways to get involved
“I’m not even a Nightline volunteer, but they’ll be there for you when no one else will — they deserve more respect. And honestly, students could use a bit of active listening in everyday life: try asking a friend ‘how have you actually been feeling lately?’ and then properly listening.”
Volunteering is not one thing, and a big part of finding something that sticks is knowing the range, so you can match the commitment and the cause to your life. Here are the main forms.
One-off and flexible volunteering — single events, days of action, or help-when-you-can opportunities — suits people who want to contribute without a fixed weekly commitment, and is a low-pressure way to start. Regular volunteering — a weekly or fortnightly role with a charity or community project, such as mentoring, tutoring, working in a charity shop, or supporting a local group — builds deeper involvement, stronger relationships and more substantial skills. RAG and fundraising — helping organise or take part in charity events, challenges and campaigns, from bucket collections to sponsored events to the famous big challenges (treks, “jailbreaks”, skydives) — is the high-energy, social end. Course-related and skilled volunteering— using or building skills linked to your degree, sometimes through university schemes that recognise it formally — is excellent for employability. And committee and leadership roles — helping run a society, club, or the volunteering effort itself — develop organisational and leadership skills and look strong on a CV. Most of these are organised through your students’ union or a dedicated volunteering hub, which brings us to how to actually start.
A closer look at RAG
Because RAG is the most distinctive part of student volunteering, it is worth a little more detail. RAG is run by students for charity, and its appeal is that it combines doing good with having a genuinely good time — it is as much a social scene as a fundraising operation. A typical RAG calendar includes regular fundraising events and socials through the year, often a flagship RAG Week packed with activities, and headline challenges that students love: charity treks abroad, “jailbreak” or hitchhike challenges (get as far as you can without spending money), sponsored stunts, and more. Getting involved can mean anything from rattling a bucket for an afternoon to joining the RAG committee and helping run the whole thing.
What makes RAG worth singling out is how much it delivers at once: it is one of the most sociable ways to volunteer, it produces some of the most memorable experiences of student life (people genuinely remember their RAG trek for years), it raises serious money for good causes, and it builds event-organising and teamwork skills that stand out to employers. If the idea of fundraising sounds dry, RAG is the opposite — it is volunteering at its most fun. It is run through your students’ union, so that is where to look to get involved.
How to get involved
The good news is that getting started is easy, because universities want you to volunteer and have built the routes to make it simple. You do not have to cold-call charities yourself.
Start with your students’ union, which almost always has a volunteering section or a dedicated volunteering hub that lists opportunities, runs RAG, and connects students to roles — this is the single best first port of call. The freshers’ fair is where volunteering groups, RAG and relevant societies recruit, so it is a great place to sign up at the start of the year. Many universities also run a volunteering service or award scheme that helps you find opportunities and formally recognises your hours, which is worth seeking out. And you can approach local charities and community organisations directly if there is a specific cause you care about. The practical advice: start small and low-commitment to see what you enjoy, pick something you genuinely care about so it does not feel like a chore, and do not over-commit at first. One role you actually turn up to beats five you signed up for in a burst of freshers enthusiasm and never attend.
Balancing volunteering with your studies
A sensible word of realism: volunteering is valuable, but your degree comes first, and the goal is to fit volunteering around your studies rather than letting it crowd them out. This is genuinely manageable with a bit of thought.
The key is matching the commitment to your capacity, and being honest about that capacity. If your timetable and workload are heavy, flexible or one-off volunteering lets you contribute without a fixed weekly demand; if you have more room, a regular role is hugely rewarding. Be realistic about what you can sustain across a term, especially around assessment and exam periods when something usually has to give — it is completely fine to scale back volunteering during a heavy stretch and pick it up again after. Good time management makes the balance far easier, and the aim is for volunteering to be one of the things that makes university richer, not a source of stress on top of it. Used well, it is restorative rather than draining — but only if you keep it proportionate to everything else you are carrying.
Volunteering and your future career
Finally, it is worth being clear-eyed about the career value, because it is real and students routinely undersell it. Volunteering gives you concrete experience and demonstrable skills at a stage when many students have little else to point to — and graduate employers consistently value it.
What makes it powerful on a CV and in applications is that it gives you genuine examples to draw on. Teamwork, communication, organisation, leadership, problem-solving, commitment — these are exactly the competencies employers ask about, and volunteering gives you real stories to answer with rather than vague claims. A committee or leadership role demonstrates initiative and responsibility; organising a RAG event shows project management; a sustained regular role shows commitment. Beyond the CV line, volunteering can help you explore career interests, build a network, and sometimes discover a direction you had not considered. The point is not to volunteer cynically, purely to pad an application — the best volunteering comes from genuine interest, and that is also what makes it convincing to talk about. But it is worth knowing that doing something good for its own sake also happens to be one of the smartest things you can do for your future. That combination — meaningful now, valuable later — is what makes volunteering some of the best time you can spend at university.
Conclusion
If you take one thing from this guide, take this: volunteering is one of the few things at university that gives back in every direction at once — friends, wellbeing, skills and genuine impact — which makes it some of the best-value time you can spend. You give your time to a good cause, and you come away with a richer social life, a stronger sense of purpose, and concrete experience employers value.
It comes in every shape, from a single afternoon to a weekly role to helping run RAG, the student fundraising tradition that combines doing good with some of the most memorable experiences of student life. So you can match the commitment to your life: start small and flexible, pick something you genuinely care about, and keep it proportionate to your degree, scaling back when assessments pile up rather than over-committing. The career value is real and worth knowing — but the best volunteering comes from genuine interest, which is also what makes it count.
The single most useful thing you can do today is small: have a look at your students’ union’s volunteering pages, or note the volunteering and RAG stalls to visit at the freshers’ fair, and sign up for one thing that appeals. One role you actually turn up to is where it starts.
For where to go next, societies and clubs covers the wider world of getting involved, making friends at university covers the social side, and the social life hub brings the rest together.
Frequently asked questions
What is RAG at university? RAG stands for Raise and Give — the student fundraising tradition run by students’ unions across the UK. It organises charity events, challenges (such as treks, “jailbreak” challenges and sponsored stunts) and campaigns through the year, often building to a RAG Week, and student RAGs collectively raise large sums for charity. It’s one of the most social and high-energy ways to volunteer.
Why should I volunteer at university? Because it benefits you as much as the cause: it’s one of the best ways to make friends (through shared purpose), it lifts your wellbeing and sense of meaning, it builds skills employers value, and it does genuine good. Few activities deliver all of that at once, which is what makes volunteering some of the best-value time you can spend at university.
How do I start volunteering at university? Start with your students’ union, which usually has a volunteering hub listing opportunities and running RAG. Sign up at the freshers’ fair, look for your university’s volunteering award scheme, or approach a local charity directly if you have a cause in mind. Begin with something small and low-commitment to find what you enjoy, and pick a cause you genuinely care about.
Does volunteering help your CV? Yes, significantly — especially when you have little other experience. It gives you concrete examples of teamwork, communication, organisation and leadership to draw on in applications and interviews, which is far more convincing than vague claims. A committee or leadership role shows initiative; organising a RAG event shows project management; a sustained role shows commitment. Graduate employers consistently value it.
How much time does volunteering take? As much or as little as you choose. One-off and flexible volunteering lets you contribute the odd afternoon with no fixed commitment; regular roles might be a weekly or fortnightly slot; committee roles take more. The key is matching the commitment to your capacity and being realistic, especially around assessment periods when it’s fine to scale back.
Can I volunteer if I’m busy with my degree? Yes — your degree comes first, but volunteering is designed to fit around it. Choose flexible or one-off opportunities if your workload is heavy, or a regular role if you have more room, and scale back during exam and assessment periods. Good time management makes the balance easy, and done proportionately, volunteering tends to be restorative rather than draining.
What kinds of volunteering can students do? A huge range: one-off events and days of action, regular roles (mentoring, tutoring, charity shops, community projects), RAG fundraising and challenges, course-related or skilled volunteering, conservation, and committee or leadership roles running societies or the volunteering effort itself. Most are organised through your students’ union or a university volunteering hub, so there’s something to suit most interests and schedules.
References
Editorial note: in-text references use APA 7. Specific fundraising figures vary year to year and the “most per head” claim was too thinly sourced to assert; the article uses defensible general statements. Verify any figures and your own SU’s RAG details before publishing.
- National Union of Students. (n.d.). Volunteering and RAG. NUS. https://www.nus.org.uk/
- Student Volunteering Network / your students’ union volunteering hub. [Add the host university’s SU volunteering page before publishing.]
- Prospects. (n.d.). Volunteering: types and benefits. Prospects. https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/work-experience-and-internships/volunteering
Further reading
- Prospects: volunteering — types of volunteering and how it builds employability.
- Your own students’ union’s volunteering and RAG pages — the main route to opportunities at your university.
- Do-it.org — a national database of volunteering opportunities you can search by area and cause.
- anonfess: Societies and clubs · Students’ union · Making friends at university · Graduate jobs · Joining a sports club