About SCA

Introduction

Cambridge Student Community Action is a small but much needed service that helps link ‘Town and Gown’ in Cambridge. We work with students from University of Cambridge and ARU who generously donate their time and boundless enthusiasm to help disadvantaged Children and Adults across the city!

We currently run 6 projects, two of which offer one-to-one support, friendship or mentoring for Children and Adults in their own homes.
The remaining 4 comprise of a (free to attend) weekend youth club held in the 2nd most deprived area of Cambridge (census 2021), a Homework Club held at a City Centre Primary School, a Music Group which visits Care homes around the city and a confidential and much valued project run in conjunction with another organisation.

Across our projects we currently have over 100 student volunteers with around 500 individuals across the city benefitting from our support each year. We also have over 1000 recipients of our regular Newsletters
including details of any events we are holding or one off volunteering opportunities in Cambridge such as stewarding for the half marathon.

We are run by a student committee, a board of trustees (three of whom are from the student committee), and a body of College Reps. We also have two staff members who deal with the day-to-day running of the charity and are available to help you with any problems you encounter.

We provide great support for our volunteers along with opportunities such as Safeguarding Training, TEFL support and more.

In addition, SCA provides many opportunities to socialise – not only will you meet like minded people in your projects, but we also arrange many Social events throughout the year.

Cambridge SCA became a registered charity in 1972 when a group of Students got together with the aim of connecting with, and giving back to, their local community. SCA has gone from strength to strength ever since and has been described as the “most prominent” local student run charity in Cambridge working with students from both University of Cambridge and ARU.

Aims and Objectives

Aims

Provide voluntary services to disadvantaged groups and encourage user involvement in the organisation
Involve students in voluntary community work and provide a valuable learning experience through this

Objectives

To provide a service for volunteers and clients e.g. through recruitment procedures, training for volunteers, good communication with volunteers and clients
To meet volunteering needs in the community
To help students find the correct volunteering placement for them
To ensure that the organisation provides equal opportunities for all
To raise awareness of student volunteering in Cambridge
To collaborate and form partnerships with other organisations, in furtherance of the aims of SCA