Volunteers from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have helped children in Beaumont Leys enjoy a Friday night full of fun.
Students from the university gave up their evening to help out at Beaumont Lodge Neighbourhood Association, which runs a youth club for youngsters in the area.
Due to a lack of volunteers the club – which used to run twice weekly – can now only run once a month and even these sessions were under threat.
But thanks to an influx of volunteers from DMU, the club’s future is now bright and organisers are hoping to once more run sessions fortnightly.
Third year Computing student Ekta Anandpara was among the students who helped out at the club on Friday (November 18).
She said: “I decided to go along because I thought it would be something different, quite unlike the work I do on my course.
“When we got there, there were about 15 or 16 children there, all aged between seven and 16.
“We played table tennis with them and then a few of us went into the kitchen to help serve them some food.”
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The volunteers signed up to help out through the university’s community outreach project, DMU Square Mile.
This week’s session wasn’t the first at which DMU students had volunteered. For Halloween, students helped organised a spooky night of fun at Beaumont Lodge, which was attended by around 70 people.
Ekta said: “We also sat down with some of the children and got them doing some arts and crafts which was really nice.
“It was just a fun evening, I would definitely encourage anyone thinking about trying it to give it a go.”
Students looking to volunteer for one of the Square Mile’s many opportunities should email squaremile@dmu.ac.uk, phone (0116) 257 7135, or sign up using the online form.
Posted on Monday 21 November 2016