STUDENTS and staff at the University of Worcester have donated dozens of kilograms of food to the Worcester Foodbank over the festive season.
With many going home for Christmas, the Students’ Union urged anyone living in halls of residence and private accommodation to check their cupboards and donate any unwanted items to the Foodbank which helps people struggling to feed themselves and their families.
The university managed to collect a total of 160kg of food and third-year student Olivia Tooby said they were overwhelmed by the generosity.
“Students on the Human Nutrition course visited the Worcester Foodbank in October as part of our Public Health module,” she said.
“The experience opened my eyes to these issues locally.
“There has been a really positive response around the University, and it has been fantastic to see students helping the local community.”
The Worcester Foodbank is part of a national network of around 420 supported by the Trussell Trust.
Foodbanks provide food boxes containing a minimum of three days’ worth of nutritionally-balanced, non-perishable food, and rely on the support and donations of local communities.
In the UK, it is estimated that 13 million people live below the poverty line.
Last year alone, almost 350,000 people received at least one three-day emergency food package from a Foodbank.
That figure is three times the number of people that were helped in 2011-2012, and represents the highest increase seen since the Trust began in 2000.
