Students give tonnes to charity

07 Aug 2013

Students leaving halls of residence have been donating their unwanted items to the British Heart Foundation.

This year, undergraduates in University halls of residences donated over 18 tonnes of items, ranging from clothes, shoes, books, DVDs and handbags, to furniture, pots, pans and electrical items to the British Heart Foundation. A further 30 tonnes have been donated by students living off campus.

The end-of-term re-use scheme entitled Give it… Don’t bin it has been running for the past five years across campus and the campaign has moved from strength to strength with this year's being the most successful. The average weight of each donated bag was 11.5kg compared to 4.3kg the previous year.

Working with Manchester City Council, the University provided student volunteers from the Manchester Leadership Programme (MLP) to put together packs for student halls and off-campus residents in order to encourage them to donate their unwanted items and to recycle more. This joint approach resulted in over 6,760 bags being donated to the Heart Foundation: a massive 66% up on the previous year, with the total value believed to be around £135,200.

Alexander Clark, DSE Sustainability Officer, said: “This initiative has seen students from across the University engage with helping a great charity and the increase in donations has shown how students value the importance of reusing unwanted items instead of sending them to landfill.”

After the success of this campaign, the British Heart Foundation is looking forward to further success when postgraduate students leave halls and private accommodation at the beginning of September.