There was an awful lot of volunteering love coming through from our team of Meet the Scientists this week as we celebrated the huge contribution they make to the success of LifeLab.
As part of the national Volunteers Week campaign, we invited our supporters to tell us why they gave up their time to talk to our students about their lives, work and inspirations.
We had an overwhelming response which reaffirmed our belief in what a crucial part the sessions play in not only inspiring a new generation of researchers but also by giving a huge amount back to our volunteers.
Programme manager Kathryn Woods-Townsend said: “We wanted to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you to our scientists and researchers who give up their time to support us. What we saw was how valuable it was, not only to the students but our volunteers too.
“The theme of always learning and being inspired is clearly a two-way benefit for both scientists and our students who take part ans support us.”
Below are the quotes we received when we asked our volunteers why they took part in the Meet the Scientist sessions. Enjoy reading them, we certainly did!
Find more on our twitter feed @LifelabSoton
“I volunteer at Lifelab because…… it’s a genuine two-way conversation, a chance to discuss the wide range of work we do, but more importantly to listen and understand people’s perceptions of that work.”
Martin Stevens
“I volunteer at LifeLab because…… speaking to the purest young minds helps me clarify my thoughts around my research and the process throws up questions I hadn’t anticipated. Furthermore, it’s great fun too.
Kazeem Olalekan
“I volunteer at LifeLab because I enjoy inspiring young people to become interested in science”
Meg Ashton Key
“I volunteer at LifeLab because I enjoy being able to share my work with kids and hopefully be able to spark an interest in science.”
Jaramillo Oquendo
“I volunteer at LifeLab because…… when you are truly passionate about your work it is a pleasure to share it with others. When I was at school we did not have work experience or resourses like LifeLab. There is a whole word of opportunities in STEM just waiting to be discovered, you just need someone to show you the way.”
James Thompson
“I volunteer at LifeLab because……I want to make science accessible and fun! Science has a reputation for being too complicated and boring and it is important to take science out of the lab so school students know how amazing science is.”
Catarina Moura
“I volunteer at LifeLab because I enjoy explaining my research to young minds, maybe that experience may spark interest in them to pursue science.”
Fatumah Atuhaire