Common Good shines through in Occupational Therapy student

A GCU student is on track to complete the Common Good Award and is keen for others to get some well-deserved recognition.

Second year Occupational Therapy student Katie Moffat has volunteered more than 100 hours to collect the four ‘Common Good Attributes’ - which cover Confidence, Active and Global Citizenship, Responsible Leadership and Entrepreneurial Mind-set.

The Common Good Award is a skills and personal development award which aims to encourage and support students to develop the skills and attributes needed to make a positive difference to the communities they serve.

The final step for Katie before collecting her award is to make a video showcasing the impact of her work.

She explained what led to her getting involved and gave insight into her volunteering journey.

Katie said: “I used to work in the Disney store and we were encouraged to complete 20 hours of extra-curricular activities per year – that’s what really started it all for me.

I then came here and found out about the Common Good Award. It really opened my eyes and led to me getting involved in a lot of different things.”

Katie added: “The Confidence certificate was through me volunteering in the emergency department at the Royal Hospital for Children. I help keep kids entertained in the waiting area with things like toys and arts and crafts. It’s been a great way to meet different people of varying backgrounds and ages.

Responsible Leadership and Active and Global Citizenship came from completing voluntary work with the National Deaf Children’s Society. I’ve been involved in three residential trips with them - an outdoor activities event, sports weekend and a ski weekend in Aviemore.

Entrepreneurial Mind-set took in two activities I completed through GCU. I worked on fundraising with the OT Society and also, through my work as a student rep, I got involved with our departmental programme review.”

Katie highly recommends other students take up the opportunity to get started with the Common Good Award.

“I’d really encourage people to at least look into it. Even if you’re not walking away with the full award, to have one of the four certificates still looks really good on your CV.

The whole experience makes you think more about what skills you’re learning and can then take on into your future.

A lot of students I know are already doing things that could count toward the hours needed for the certificates - so it makes sense to get the recognition for it!”

Find out more about GCU’s Common Good Award and how to get involved here


By Ross Clark
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter