Volunteering at Kingston – you can make a difference

As a member of our alumni community, the experience and expertise you have is invaluable to our students. There are a number of ways you can support our students and actively engage with us.

Your impact in numbers

In the academic year 2023/24, there were 579 instances of alumni volunteering which equated to 3,181 volunteering hours.

Get involved with Enterprise

Be part of Bright Ideas 2025

Bright Ideas, in its 20th year, is our award-winning annual competition designed to give our students the opportunity to develop an idea, have it evaluated and win a prize of up to £1,000. We need your help in judging the initial on-line stage of the competition.

Students submit their business ideas for review, seeking to pitch their idea at the Final in February.

Judges will spend an hour reviewing ideas and giving feedback for this stage of the competition. We have Sprint development workshops for student entries, and you can get involved. Please email alumni@kingston.ac.uk if you would like to participate.

Support student start-ups

Kingston University's Enterprise programme supports students at all stages of their start-up careers – from the development of entrepreneurial skills like problem solving and presenting, through to mentoring and coaching for new business start-ups. There are many ways to get involved in supporting student start-ups.

If this is of interest to you or you want to find out more contact Kingston University's Student Enterprise Manager, Dwain Reid.

Beyond Barrier Mentoring Scheme

Volunteer to mentor on a six-month Beyond Barriers Scheme. The scheme helps second year, third year and postgraduate students, from traditionally under-represented groups, achieve their full potential through a tailored one-to-one relationship.

You can support the students by offering impartial guidance, encouraging new experiences and positive choices, and helping to inspire self-confidence.

The scheme runs from November to May and only requires a commitment of two hours per month. We welcome mentors from all backgrounds, ages, experiences. For more information, view our Beyond Barriers section.

Share your industry expertise with students

• Marketing Professionals – In person and on-line opportunities. Can you talk to current students about your industry. All stages of career experience welcome (October 2024 to March 2025).
• Networking Skills – share why networking is important for you, how you have developed your skills and overcome fears at our Business Management workshops (6 December 2024 at Kingston Hill campus).

If these sessions are of interest, contact the Faculty Alumni and Business Relationship Manager (FBSS), Sarah Geard.

• EU Law: Poster presentations from 2nd year law students. Students are engaging with a real-world EU challenge and seeking to provide practical solutions to it. Students will be developing a poster to outline their idea and a short pitch to explain their proposal. Your role will be to listen to their ideas, ask questions and give them feedback. We will then ask you to fill out a short evaluation form on given criteria. The event will culminate in prize giving for the highest scoring team followed by a networking reception. (30 January 2025, 4 to 6.30pm at Penrhyn Road Campus).
• Foundation Year Pharmaceutical Science: This module is intended to introduce a number of key skills which students will need to draw on in their future academic and professional careers. For this assignment, we have asked them to identify the problems for sustainability associated with medical or healthcare products, and to come up with a solution to these challenges. Your role will be to review and listen to students' presentations with a member of staff and give feedback. (4 February, 2-4pm On-line).

If these sessions are of interest, please fill out this MS Form: Volunteer form - Enterprise Education panel events 2024/25

Elevate

Elevate is Kingston University's award-winning careers and employability accelerator programme for our students from Black British, African, Caribbean or Black mixed heritage.

You can share your profile, expertise at events, offer roles and internships to students and us help build employer links. If you are interested in getting involved or becoming an employer partner, please email elevate@kingston.ac.uk.

How can you assist recent graduates?

Head over and join the Kingston Alumni LinkedIn Group to share your advice. We are keen to hear your thoughts about networking, wellbeing, motivation, entrepreneurship, and anything in-between; anything that might help graduates, as they look to their futures. You can also email us with your advice at alumni@kingston.ac.uk.

Share your Kingston Experience with prospective students

Would you like to share your profile with prospective students? We are looking for Kingston alumni to share reflections of being a Kingston student and what you have gone on to do since graduating.

We want future Kingston students to hear directly from you about your student experience and feel inspired. You can also take part in Open Days and international student events. If you would like to share your story, email alumni@kingston.ac.uk.

Get in touch

If you are interested in volunteering for any of the above opportunities, email details of your experience directly to the contact listed or alumni@kingston.ac.uk. Or you can use our Become an Alumni Champion at Kingston form.

Please note, due to the popularity of some programmes, we may not be able to take every expression of interest forward.

Thank you. Your involvement makes the difference to our students' education and careers.