Boro Angels
David Gee, Boro Angels chairman. We patrol the streets of Middlesbrough, mainly on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, assisting anyone who may be in need of a helping hand, whether it be a bottle of water, chat, first aid or contacting the emergency services.
We do not judge and will come to the aid of anyone we can help, no matter what their circumstances. We deal with anyone out on the town regardless without prejudice. We have had a number of volunteers through Volun-tees and regularly attend volunteer fairs arranged by the University. Some of the students have been with us from their first year through to their last. We particularly get interest around October/November from newcomers to the area to second and third year students.
A lot of the interest seems to come from the criminology courses, many of the students wanting to work in the community, possibly police, probation service, and so on. They always provide a refreshing aspect to our teams, often progressing so enthusiastically that they end up leading teams out on patrol, coping admirably with all the responsibilities that entails. They also bring down the average age that oldies, like me, significantly increase!
There are times that Boro Angels would either have struggled to maintain a presence on the streets or have severely impacted on the time of other volunteers without the student's involvement.
My advice to organisations looking for University volunteers is to go for it. Register with Volun-tees and get the students on board. It soon becomes clear that many of them want to play a part in the community to make it their home for 3 or 4 years. Boro Angels have never been disappointed with any of our University volunteers.
