Students Look to Fight Global Issues with Christian Aid

Christian Aid is raising the next generation of high-energy campaigners and development workers with its Pressurepoints scheme, now in its second year.

The scheme recruits students who are interested in development or campaigning as a career.

Due to the success of Pressurepoints, the organisation has doubled the number of students it is seeking to take part in the scheme, looking to recruit 30 student reps in higher education to help raise a social conscience in colleges and universities across the UK.

"We were overwhelmed by students' interest and commitment to this scheme last year. That is why we have decided to increase the places from 15 to 30 for this academic year," said Chris Mead, higher education programme manager.

"The scheme offers students who are interested in development or campaigning as a career after university, or who are simply interested in global issues, a great opportunity to gain valuable work experience and get paid at the same time."

Under the Pressurepoints scheme, Student Reps will be paid £5.35 per hour and will be expected to commit approximately 20 hours a month.

The students will receive training, an annual budget to organise educational, fundraising or campaigning events, a personal mentor and access to a wide range of Christian Aid resource materials.

Student Reps will campaign on issues such as trade justice, climate change and HIV and AIDS as well as raise awareness of the work of Christian Aid, where they can choose to run a planned on-campus project or devise one of their own.

Examples of planned activities include club/band/comedy evenings, and 'Thinking positive' - an artistic, reflective project based on the idea of memory books to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS issues.

The Student Reps will also be asked to write articles for their student newspaper and the award-winning campaigning website www.pressureworks.org. They will also promote Christian Aid events, carry out research among fellow students, write and hold workshops/presentations and inform student societies and course tutors about available Christian Aid resources.

Student Reps will liaise with their mentor to devise a work plan for the year, ensuring that targets and workloads are realistic so that training needs can be identified and addressed.