Students host coffee morning to celebrate RNC’s volunteers

Level 3 Business Studies students recently put their learning into action by organising a coffee morning for their unit on Event Management. The event was designed to show appreciation for RNC’s volunteers and governors, and to give students the opportunity to say thank you for the vital role they play across the College.

Pictured L-R: Tom, Humna, Skye, Ella, Reisha, Teacher Lauren, and Jessie

The morning began with Tom welcoming guests and delivering safety announcements before launching into a lively quiz. The quiz featured three themed rounds – Blind Sports, The Royal National College for the Blind, and Cake – and was led by Tom, Ella and Humna, who each took responsibility for reading out the questions. Teams quickly became competitive, with plenty of friendly debate and head scratching as answers were discussed.

Students, volunteers and governors were split into teams with imaginative names such as The Terrible Trio, Newcastle Brown, The Cake Eaters and The Muffin Tins. Alongside the quiz, guests enjoyed a selection of homemade treats prepared by student Reisha, who stayed up into the small hours baking Victoria sponge, brownies, muffins and cookies especially for the event.


Pictured: The 'Cake Eaters' Team



Pictured: The 'Muffin Tins' Team - who were the quiz winners



Pictured: Team 'Newcastle Brown'


Pictured: The 'Terrible Trio' Team 



Pictured: Reisha with her glorious Victoria sponge

The coffee morning received very positive feedback. Volunteer Jane said:

‘On behalf of the volunteers I would like to say the event has been such fun, so well organised, and the cakes are delicious.’

Teacher Lauren added:

‘The College really couldn’t do without its volunteers, so we’re very grateful.’

At the end of the event, Jessie thanked everyone for attending and invited guests to complete evaluation forms to support their assessment.

A lot of planning and teamwork went into making the event a success. Students initially approached Volunteer Co ordinator Liz, and as she was organising her own event, they decided to create something a little different by developing the coffee morning and quiz idea.

Clear roles were allocated: Jessie was Admin; Ella was Admin and Operations; Tom was Marketing; Skye was Finance; Reisha was Baker; and Humna was Operations. Tom used AI to help create the invitation, Skye managed the budget and successfully came in under budget with contingency remaining, and Reisha organised shopping as well as baking.

Teacher Lauren praised the group, saying the students worked brilliantly together, supported one another throughout and demonstrated excellent teamwork.

Students also reflected on the personal skills they have developed. Ella felt the process helped build her confidence, Jessie strengthened her administration skills in line with her career goals, and several students improved their communication and public speaking through introductions, quiz hosting and thank you speeches. Skye shared that, although she is shy around new people, the event helped her find the confidence to make conversation and step outside her comfort zone, particularly when liaising with catering, facilities, budgeting, risk assessments and room setup.

Students agreed it was especially valuable to spend time with volunteers they had not previously met and to learn more about why they volunteer and what they do at the College.

While everyone recognised how much work was involved, the group thoroughly enjoyed the experience, with some students feeling inspired to consider a future career in event management.

A fantastic effort from everyone involved – well done!