Imperial College Union today welcomed Cllr Joe Carlebach, councillor for the Avonmore & Brook Green ward in Hammersmith & Fulham, home to 514 of our members.

As part of our political engagement programme, our Officer Trustees and staff have been meeting elected representatives from any location with a significant population of Imperial students. Previously, a number of MPs, Assembly Members and local councillors have been given a tour of the Union, learnt about our three-year strategic plan and discussed how local communities and Imperial students can mutually benefit from collaboration and volunteering.

Cllr Carlebach, himself a former student president at the University of Newcastle, is a board member or non-executive director of several charitable organisations, such as the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust and Arthritis Research UK, and a number of local schools. 

Nat & Marissa discussed the possibility of greater student involvement in the above charities - several of which are near our Hammersmith campus - with Cllr Carlebach. As a result of this meeting, we will investigate the following:

• Including the charities supported by Cllr Carlebach in our Volunteering Opportunities page, part of Community Connections - Imperial College Union's volunteer brokerage service (launched in February 2014) connecting our members to volunteering opportunities in the local community and further afield
• Expanding the number of schools involved in the various outreach schemes operated by College and the Union