Generous students raise over £50,000 to help save lives
Published on 3 January 13
Students from The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University donated more than £50,000 worth of unwanted items at the end of term.
The British Heart Foundation teamed up with the universities to place collection bins around campus in spring 2012. Students were encouraged to hand over surplus items that they no longer needed, or didn't want to take home for the summer. The charity was then able to sell or recycle goods that would otherwise have been thrown away in their shops around Manchester. More than 3,500 bags of goods were dropped off by students, generating £52,500 for the fight against heart disease.
The project was so successful that there are plans to continue it again this year. Helen McGlashan, director of residential services, said: "We wanted to work with the British Heart Foundation to provide this convenient new service to encourage students to donate unwanted items to this great cause rather than throw them out. We are delighted this collaboration proved to be such a success and hope the service continues to be used."
Catherine Argyle, from the British Heart Foundation, added: "The response from students of Manchester has been fantastic. Each of our shops needs to receive 400 bags of unwanted items each week to continue our lifesaving work and thanks to the generous donations from the students and staff at MMU and The University of Manchester we have been able to help our shops in the Greater Manchester area."
Donations of good quality shoes, CDs, DVDs, books, and small electrical goods are welcomed at any of the British Heart Foundation shops in Manchester.