SV Week Taster Session at Hersham Hounds

We've run a range of taster sessions across Student Volunteering Week for new volunteers to give volunteering a try. Tina Dézart came along to our Hersham Hounds Kennel Paint. 

This week was Student Volunteering Week and I took part in one of the events KUSU Volunteering put on and got a taste of what it’s like to volunteer with the student union.

We were a group of eight girls to head off to the Hersham Hounds kennel on Monday to walk the dogs and paint the kennels.  The shelter takes in grey hounds retired from the race courses and aims to find them a home but some of them are permanent residents.

We started the day by walking the dogs in the field behind the kennel, I was a bit nervous at first as we were told that the dogs sometimes rush after squirrels and could dislocate our shoulder if we hold on to the leash. But all went well and the animals were very sweet although sometimes a little stubborn: When I walked Belle, she decided that the middle of the road was a good place to stop and refused to move for 15 minutes.

Back from the walks we got to feed our companions some treats and cuddle them for a while before we had a snack and started the painting. It was good fun and I think we managed to get more paint on the walls than on ourselves.

It was a great day but it past to quickly, I could have stayed there all afternoon but hopefully I will be going back to the kennel quite soon.

I didn’t know much about volunteering opportunities before Student Volunteering Week, it gave me the chance to learn more about how to get involved and to spend the day doing something different.