National success for student volunteer project
Posted on 25 November 2009
Minds in Motion was set up by Hull York Medical School students and runs a range of activities for people suffering from dementia and their carers.
The project won the citizenship and volunteering category of the Guardian Public Service Awards, competing against entries from National Grid and KPMG.
Medical student Katie Brice, one of the founders of Minds in Motion, said: “We started the project because we felt that a lot more could be done to support dementia sufferers and that students could help fill that gap. Its success is down to the time and effort devoted to it by all the volunteers who have taken part over the last two years.
The most important thing to us is the consistently positive feedback we receive from the nurses, residents and family members we work with
Katie Brice
“Everyone involved is really pleased to receive this recognition but the most important thing to us is the consistently positive feedback we receive from the nurses, residents and family members we work with.”
Minds in Motion draws student volunteers from both the Hull York Medical School and the wider University. Its activities include a monthly “Harmony Café” at a local church where students provide free food and entertainment.
Volunteers also regularly visit three daycare units in the city and run arts and crafts activities including music therapy and furniture restoration using materials found in local second hand shops.
Earlier this year, Minds in Motion won the best community project prize in the York Community Pride Awards. It has also previously won a Higher Education Volunteering Award and a University of York Shepherd Group Award for Student Volunteering.
The idea was developed with assistance from the University Community Fund which is supported by the Higher Education Funding Council's Active Community Fund and Shepherd Group and managed by the University of York’s Community and Volunteering Unit.
The project and its volunteers also receive funding, training and support from the University of York Students' Union (YUSU) which runs 13 volunteering projects. Minds in Motion works closely with another YUSU Volunteering project, Music Education Group, to run music therapy activities for adults with dementia and their carers.
Minds in Motion volunteers Katie Brice, Sharik Mirza, Steph Boardman, Anna Brassington and Naomi Chinn were at the ceremony to collect their award.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
-
The Hull York Medical School is
a partnership between the Universities of York and Hull
and the NHS providing 21st-century training for the next generation of Yorkshire doctors as well as a hub for cutting-edge
healthcare research. Students experience clinical placements throughout
their course, spending time equally in hospital and community settings.
- Every year, at least 1,000 University of York students and 100 staff take part in volunteering activities. The University’s Community and Volunteering Unit also co-ordinates volunteering by the staff of 16 local employers and eight schools.
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