Waste not, want not: Students donate more than £85,000 and 2,300 meals

17 Aug 2017

Our students in halls of residence have taken part in the 'Give It Don't Bin It' end of year campaign, which aims to reduce the amount of items thrown away

This year undergraduate student residents leaving halls have donated 6125 bags of unwanted clothes, shoes, books, electrical appliances and crockery to the British Heart Foundation in the annual ‘Give It Don’t Bin It, end of year campaign. 

This has been calculated as the equivalent of £85,750 worth of donations to the charity helping them to fund life-saving research into heart disease. 

As well as our halls of residence, the campaign works in partnership with Manchester City Council, who deliver the campaign to off-campus student housing, with the support of the University’s Volunteering Team, Manchester Metropolitan University halls and Manchester Student Homes, who support the campaign in the city's private halls. Across the partnership over 14,700 bags have been donated, which is an equivalent to £206,178 donated to the charity. 

Unopened food items were also collected through the end of term reuse scheme. Students were asked to donate unopened food tins and packets that they had left in their cupboards to Manchester Central Foodbank, who support people in food poverty living across Manchester. Almost 1 tonne of food items were donated which equates to 2,357 meals. 

Director for the Student Experience Simon Merrywest said: “The end of year is a very busy time for our students, however this is great to see that even when they are moving out of our halls, they can make a difference by giving unwanted items to charities, who can use the donations to support people across Manchester and the wider area."

Professor James Thompson, Vice President for Social Responsibility, added: “It is great to see our halls working in partnership with external partners to develop a city wide campaign for all students living in Manchester. 

"By working together we can have a greater impact towards helping fund life-saving research and supporting people who are less fortunate than ourselves."