With the semester in full swing and many projects underway, we thought it would be a good time to reflect on the successes of the term so far. We’d like to extend a big thanks to everyone who participated to make this year one of the most successful years we’ve had.
Social Media and Door Prizes
We kicked-off our year with a social media door prize initiative. We saw a big increase in our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter followers and had over 160 entries to our door prize draw. This was fantastic because it gave us the chance to start spreading awareness of our new placements and projects for the 2018/2019 year. Thank you to all the local businesses that kindly donated gift cards for this cause!
Volunteer Information Session
At out volunteer information session we had a 70 attendees – almost double the numbers from last year! We were excited to see the room packed with our new 1Ls as well as familiar 2L and 3L faces, all eager to learn about how they can be a part of the PBSC volunteer squad.
Launch Event
Our launch event was one of our biggest events of the year. We were so fortunate to have Maria Shepherd, an exoneree and board member from Innocence Canada share her experiences and as well as insights about access to justice issues and wrongful convictions. We were thrilled to see the room packed with 110 students, which knocked our last year’s launch event out of the park.
Applications and Placements
This year we had a record of 110 applicants, with 59 placements between 25 organizations. Congratulations to all who received a placement! If you weren’t able to secure a position this year, we highly encourage you apply with us again next year.
Anti-Oppression Training Sessions
We’d also like to thank all the students who attended our Anti-Oppression training earlier this semester. All students whose projects required that they take the training attended plus more. We are so pleased that our students took this rare and exciting opportunity to learn invaluable skills to take with them into their careers. A big thanks to Moussa Magassa, the Human Rights Educator who ran the session and fostered interactive participation and learning. The Anti-Oppression training was new to PBSC this year to help our students with their projects and we are very happy with the results. We have started to receive some constructive feedback from some of our volunteers and would love to hear from others so we can continue to improve this new event for future years. Please drop us an email at: pbsc.uvic@gmail.com
Law Foundation of BC Site Visit
We were pleased to host our main funder the Law Foundation of BC at the beginning of October for their annual site visit. The LFBC provided us with excellent feedback and support, and we would like to pass their commendations on to our volunteers who make this program the success that it is!
Thanks again to everyone who has put in such hard work this year towards their access to justice and community projects. Let’s all continue to fight the good fight.
**PBSC Uvic would like to acknowledge the unceded territories of the Lekwungen (Chekonein, Chilcowitch, Swengwhung, Kosampsom, Whyomilth, Teechamitsa, Kakyaakan, Songhees, Esquimalt) and W̱SÁNEĆ (SȾÁUTW/Tsawout, W̱JOȽEȽP/Tsartlip, BOḰEĆEN/Pauquachin, WSIḴEM/Tseycum) Peoples upon whose land we work and live and whose ties to the land remain to this day.