Try Something New
Try Something New
At LUU we believe, that to be the best organisation we can be, all our people should be able to learn new skills and develop themselves whilst they work for us. But did you know that Learning is great for your personal wellbeing too? Continued learning through life enhances self-esteem and encourages social interaction and a more active life. Use these resources to set yourself some learning goals or find an opportunity that suits you.
Learning Platforms
Love to Learn
Our very own Love to Learn has over 150 courses for you to try out. Don’t forget your username is your name all lowercase with no spaces.
LinkedIn Learning
We all have free access to LinkedIn Learning through our @leeds.ac.uk accounts. See the quick start guide on the UOL IT website
Higher Education Courses
Future Learn - Future Learn offers free courses provided by Higher Education institutions across the UK. The University of Leeds has a series of online courses through the platform on a range of subjects too. You will need to create an account to access the content but it is free and easy to sign up.
Course Era - Build skills with courses, certificates, and degrees online from world-class universities and companies. The University of Leeds on Coursera gives students and staff free access to a huge number of courses created by participating institutions.
The Open University - The Open University has lots of different free courses for you to try, including; History & the Arts, Money & Business, and Society, Politics & Law.
EDX - Access 2500+ Online Courses from 140 Top Institutions.
A go-to free platform to watch influential videos from expert speakers on education, business, science, tech and creativity, with subtitles in 100+ languages. Choose from thousands of videos on hundreds of topics.
Through our Employee Assistance Program, LUU staff have access to a great range of webinars, on topics such as Social media & mental health, Emotional Intelligence, The Menopause, Children's Mental Health & lots more!
Visit Health Assured EAP and enter the username 'endsleigh' and password 'StudentUnions'
Ideas & Inspiration
Allyship
Check out these guides to help you learn how to be a better ally to the causes you care about.
10 Steps to Non-Optical Allyship
Want to be a good ally? Here are some things to ask yourself
Cooking & Baking
Jack Monroe is posting cheap/store cupboard baking recipes here.
All these sites have loads of free recipes for anyone to try out and enjoy.
Coding
How about learning to code? Have a look at these online schools.
Volunteering Opportunities
Research suggests that acts of giving and kindness can help improve your mental wellbeing by creating positive feelings and a sense of reward, giving you a feeling of purpose and helping you connect with other people. If you'd like to do either community or voluntary work, please talk to your line manager.
NHS Volunteer Responders
Community Response volunteer: This role involves collecting shopping, medication or other essential supplies for someone who is self-isolating, and delivering these supplies to their home.
Patient Transport volunteer: This role supports the NHS by providing transport to patients who are medically fit for discharge, and ensuring that they are settled safely back in to their home.
NHS Transport volunteer: This role involves transporting equipment, supplies and/or medication between NHS services and sites, it may also involve assisting pharmacies with medication delivery.
Check-in and Chat volunteer: This role provides short-term telephone support to individuals who are at risk of loneliness as a consequence of self-isolation.
Click here to find out more.
Doing Good Leeds
There's lots of information on this site about what volunteering opportunities are available and how volunteering can help you.
LUU Volunteers
We want to hear about all the great things our staff are doing. Get in touch with the People Team if you have a volunteering story.
Online Opportunities
United Nations
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide. Online volunteering allows organizations and volunteers to team up to address sustainable development challenges – anywhere in the world, from any device.
Click here to find out more.
Translators without Borders
You can volunteer with TWB if you are fluent in at least one language other than your native language. Whether you are interested in translating medical texts or translating for crisis response, there are engaging projects available to suit all preferences.
Be My Eyes
Be My Eyes is a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and company representatives for visual assistance through a live video call.
Every day, sighted volunteers lend their eyes to solve tasks big and small to help blind and low-vision people lead more independent lives.
Download Be My Eyes
Instant Wild
Interested in animal conservation?
ZSL’s Instant Wild empowers you to take part in vital conservation work by bringing you LIVE images and videos from amazing locations all around the world for you to identify.
You don’t need to be an expert to get involved. Help is provided in handy Field Guides.
Simply sign up here and start tagging the animals in the images.