About

Imperial Hub is the focal point on campus to engage students in social, charitable and environmental issues.

We act to empower students to become more socially aware during their time at University by organising volunteering opportunities, running student led conferences and events, making them aware of the other projects at Imperial which make a real community difference and encouraging students to develop their own ideas and social enterprises. Our vision is simple:Student Powered Social Change.

As part of the national Student Hubs network, Imperial Hub is able to provide the help and support to students and projects wanting to make a difference, aiming to be the definitive guide to everything of an ethical, charitable or social entrepreneurial nature.

Make sure you sign up to the Week (our weekly newsletter) to keep up to date with all the events on campus with an ethical or charitable focus, from talks to campaign actions, society meetings to conferences, and much more!

If you're inspired by what we and want to get involved or if you have an idea for a project that you want to set up simply click here to find out how or drop one of our team an email. Don't forget to check us out on Facebook and Twitter too.

Our work can be split into 5 main programmes:

Social Action:

This involves all of our volunteering work, from organising one off volunteering opportunities, more long term arrangements like our Schools Plus mentoring scheme or supporting current projects at Imperial. Volunteering is probably the easiest way to get stuck in with something truly exciting and to make a real difference. Click the links to find out more about volunteering or some of the projects we support at Imperial as part of Our Network.

Social Enterprise:

Social Enterprises are organisations which are driven by a social mission but, unlike charities, are run as a "for profit" organisation. A great example is the Greyston Bakery in New York who have the slogan: "We don't hire people to bake brownies, we bake brownies to hire people".

Imperial Hub has teamed up with Imperial Entrepreneurs and Imperial Innovations to develop a brand new and exciting opportunity for students.  The Imperial Social Enterprise Accelerator (iSEA) is the first of a range of enterprise accelerators that will be part of the new ICStartup programme. With £30,000 of funding from UnLtd and a newly refurbished incubator room in the Union, this is an amazing chance to turn that socially inspired project/enterprise you've always dreamed of running into a reality and "be the change you want to see in the world".

Environment and Sustainability:

At a time when the benefits of transforming our society into a greener and more sustainable one are becoming abundantly clear, we feel it is important to support students passionate about environmental issues. We help to foster a culture of environmental responsibility that will remain with students in their future careers. The London Climate Forum is the inaugural student led conference on climate change and sustainability. Set to be the largest student conference of this kind in the UK it is aiming to inspire the changemakers of tomorrow to make a difference in this area. 

Ethical Careers:

Every year, Student Hubs matches students with an interest in making a positive social or environmental impact with organisations, social enterprises and NGOs working in these areas. Find out more about the Ethical Internship scheme here. Applications for Summer 2013 open in November.

International Development

There are many great projects at Imperial working in the realm of International Development. Take a look at them on the Union Website.To find out what the national Student Hubs network is doing in the area of International Development, click here or take a look at the International Development Conferences run by other hub universities. If you're interested in organising an International Development Conference at Imperial, drop us an email.