Departing students in Bath have donated over 200 bags of clothes and kitchen equipment to local charities during their end of term move-out.
Bath Rugby Foundation is one of the charities that is benefiting from donated clothes, supporting its work to improve the lives of children and young people in the region.
The Foundation is running a Summer Break Out programme to help children, teens and young adults as part of Bath’s recovery from the Covid-19 lockdown. The donated clothes will help the older participants to take part in employability sessions.
“This is a great example of young adults supporting people their own age who have had a tough time, through no fault of their own,” said Dan Hine, Bath Rugby Foundation’s Delivery Officer.
“These donations will help change the lives of young people here in Bath. Hopefully, we will see lots of young people wearing these clothes as they head off to successful job interviews.”
For the month of June, the Student Community Partnership (made up of Bath Spa University, University of Bath, Bath College, their Students’ Unions, Norland College and Bath and North East Somerset Council) worked with Bath’s Third Sector Group (3SG) to offer two drop-off locations for student donations: Oldfield Park Baptist Church, and Bath City Football Club (BCFC), where a team of volunteers collected and stored the donations.
“BCFC are thrilled to partner with the universities to enable the redistribution of no longer needed equipment to local charities,” said Joy Saunders, BCFC’s Community Director.
“We are proud to have so many students involved in our Twerton Park community and this project was an excellent initiative to work together in giving back to the wider community, during some quite unprecedented times.
“We remain impressed with the contribution students make to our city through donations, volunteering, and engaging with good causes and the success of this partnership shows the power of community.”
Megan Robertson, Vice President of Welfare and Community at Bath Spa University’s Students’ Union and current SCP Chair, said: “It’s great that during such a trying time, the Student Community Partnership has managed to continue to put together these donations for a cause that is so important. I feel incredibly proud to be part of the SCP through my role as Vice President Welfare and Community at Bath Spa University Students’ Union and as the current SCP Chair, and I’m excited to see the great work be continued throughout the year.”
Other charities that are benefiting are Julian House, Developing Health and Independence (DHI) and the British Heart Foundation.
Donations have also been made to housing association and house builder Curo. Joanne Salisbury, Livewell Officer at Curo, thanked the SCP for the donations, adding: “We have many vulnerable residents who due to Covid-19 are finding it difficult to make ends meet. The items will be distributed to families who are unable to afford new ones. These are unprecedented times and people are having to make difficult decisions when purchasing items and often going without essentials. These donations will be very much appreciated.”
The SCP is grateful to Oldfield Park Baptist Church and BCFC for their support.
Kitchen equipment I can understand, but clothing…? Is this where ultra-fast fashion sold by companies such as boohoo (with brands like Pretty Little Thing and Nasty Gal) and Missguided ends up?