Celebrating Volunteers’ Week 2026

Celebrating 7,853 hours of alumni volunteering

Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration taking place between Monday 1 June – Sunday 7 June 2026, recognising the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering in their communities.

Each year, our incredible alumni volunteers have a huge impact on everything we do here at Cardiff University, whether that has been supporting students and fellow alumni through mentoring schemes, sitting on University boards, engaging with an alumni chapter, returning to Cardiff to give a careers talk to inspire the next generation of graduates, or offering internships to our students. Find out more about volunteering.

We want to take this time to say a special thank you to all our alumni volunteers whose support makes a real difference to the Cardiff University community.

Our alumni volunteers share their experiences and tell us how they’ve found volunteering to be so rewarding.

Maddison Coomber (LLB 2023)

In partnership with Cardiff University, the Pathways to Law programme supports talented local school and college students to explore the legal sector. Maddison returned to Cardiff to speak to a group of 50 Year 12 students about their journeys into law and what the profession is really like. Read more.

“This was my third time volunteering – I enjoy catching up with the staff who shaped my journey and meeting students who are right at the start of theirs. It really does feel full circle. When I was a student, hearing from alumni made a future in law feel less abstract and more achievable. It turned ‘one day I hope…’ into ‘this is possible for me.’”

Hannah Williams (BSc 2014)

Hannah took part as a mentor in our 2026 Womentoring scheme which saw 24 alumnae mentors matched with early-career alumnae mentees.

“The experience has been both enjoyable and mutually beneficial. I’ve genuinely valued the opportunity to share my perspective, while also reflecting on my own learning through these conversations. Being selected as one of 24 alumni mentors was a real privilege, and I’m very grateful to have been part of this year’s programme. Mentoring is one of those rare opportunities where you give perspective but gain it back tenfold — and this experience has been exactly that.”

Dale Perrett (BScEcon 1989)

Dale is one of the Founding Directors of Novo Executive Search and Selection and is passionate about nurturing the next generation of talent. For many years, Novo has provided Cardiff Business School students with real-world experience, professional mentorship, and a pathway into graduate employment. Read more.

“Placements bring fresh perspective into the business. They challenge assumptions in a constructive way and often spot things others overlook. Many of our graduate hires have come through this route, which means they join us already understanding our culture and expectations. There is something distinctive about Cardiff students. They tend to be grounded, thoughtful, and commercially aware earlier than many. Offering placements allowed us to give students real exposure while also building a future talent pipeline for Novo. Strong partnerships create a two-way flow of value. Universities gain insight into industry, and organisations gain early access to emerging talent.”

Mina Okuru Addico (MA 2019)

Mina is one of the leaders of the Cardiff University Ghana Alumni Chapter. Find out more about alumni chapters.

“Since returning to Ghana in 2019 after my studies, I’ve always wanted to bring together Ghanaians who studied at Cardiff – after all, some of the brightest minds contributing to Ghana today were trained there. Working with the alumni relations office to make this vision a reality was the perfect way to do it. Leading the launch of the Cardiff University Ghana Chapter was such a joy. It gave me the chance to connect with alumni whose work and impact I deeply admire across various fields, and to create a platform for networking, knowledge sharing, and collective impact in Ghana.”

Emma Barlow (BA 2009)

Emma took part in the University’s careers mentoring programme and was matched with student Erin. Emma and Erin quickly connected and what began as a series of online mentoring sessions, soon led to an internship, giving Erin the chance to gain hands-on experience. Read more.

“After several online sessions with Erin, it became clear we’d built a good relationship, and I’d shared most of what I could about my work and the industry. I knew that work experience would be valuable – as it had been for me – and that Erin would fit in perfectly at Northstar. Thankfully, my wonderful directors agreed. The internship built on the things they’d discussed during their mentoring sessions and gave Erin the opportunity to see first-hand how the industry works.”

We couldn’t do what we do without our brilliant volunteers, so if you’d like to give back, please do get involved. Find out more.