Manchester Metropolitan University and Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK) are offering a paid opportunity for students to gain skills in project management, communication and leadership by acting as a Drink Rethink Student Ambassador.

The project is designed to provide information to all students on alcohol consumption, and direct those who might be experiencing issues with their drinking behaviour to further support if necessary.

It uses an approach called Identification and Brief Advice, or IBA. Our project will see students trained as ambassadors to engage fellow students to answer questions on a questionnaire to assess their level of alcohol consumption. Depending on the results the student ambassadors will provide advice on strategies and benefits of reducing alcohol consumption.

Students who complete the questionnaire will also be provided with a leaflet to take away, which provides information relevant to their level of alcohol consumption.

If you are interested in seeing how a similar project was run (not with students) there’s a video of this here.

You will be offered all the skills and knowledge you require to be involved in the project through training delivered by SOS-UK. We are looking for people to be able to commit to the requirements of the role:

• Confidence approaching other students
• Commitment to attend the training
• Commitment to be reliable and deliver the project on the days required
• Experience in a people facing role (this could be voluntary, a placement or paid)
• Experience of leadership skills
• Experience of working in a group setting/with other people

Objectives

• Learn more about approaches to responsible alcohol consumption at your institution and students’ union
• Learn about behaviour change techniques
• Gain skills and knowledge in delivering an alcohol/public health/health promotion intervention
• Develop an understanding of engagement techniques
• Improve confidence and leadership skills
• Make a positive impact, improve your CV/LinkedIn profile
• Gain valuable employability skills, participate in a new pilot project, have some fun learning practical skills with likeminded people and get paid for it!

What will it involve?

You will always be working with other students and be given all the support you require to undertake the tasks. During the project work, you will have the support of your university and a member of staff from SOS-UK if you have any issues.

Key skills and experience gained

• Experience of working on a wellbeing project in a professional environment
• Knowledge of how institutions and students’ union can tackle responsible alcohol consumption
• Insight into effective behaviour change methods
• Experience of communicating using a variety of different means
• Ability to support and encourage others to perform
• Leadership skills
• Time management
• Team development
• Project management skills