The University of Portsmouth Students’ Union VIP volunteering team have won an impressive national award. The Volunteering In Portsmouth team were recognised as Volunteering Team of The Year.

The award was presented to the commitee of VIP by Higher Educaton Volunteering awards with celebrity Danny Wallace announcing the winners.

As members of the team collected the award from a prestigous event at Wembley Stadium, the rest of the team worked intently on ensuring that VIP’s next event was prepared and ready.
Without resting on their laurels the team threw themselves into preparing and running two separate Christmas events for parts of the community.

The award was presented on Friday 7th of December and over the weekend that followed VIP successfully ran a Christmas dinner and activities for children with learning difficulites, and a Christmas dinner for elderly members of the local community.

The disabled children’s event attracted a positive response, with parents thanking students for donating their “own time, that everyone put into this event for these very special kids”. Both functions are very popular and the team tirelessly attempted to accomodate as many people as possible to these events.

The team also hold regular events helping local disabled children and other vunerable sections of the community. VIP are also looking for anyone with a burning desire or suggestion on a project that this award winning team could become involved with. If you have such an idea, get in touch.

Steve Topazio, the VIP Vice-president was proud that this award was presented to an organisation that is relatively new in its creation and that the team was honoured with the award, as this was the first year that the team was entirely student led rather than directed by UPSU staff members.

VIP runs much as any other society or sports club within UPSU - with committees - but it has its primary functions as helping the local community, the environment and others that need the team’s help.

There are many projects taking place in the Portsmouth area that need more enthusiastic and capable volunteers such as the VIP team to make them work. The team claim that one day a volunteer could be building a play area for a children’s group; another time you might be helping to do the accounts for a charity or in the woods landscaping.

VIP would like to thank everyone that has volunteered this year for all their events, the team would also especially like to thank Steve Baker a member of the UPSU staff and Diana Langford 2006/07 Student Activites and Development Officer for all their hard work last year.