Vacating halls? Before you bin it, give it!

15 June 2020

4 mins

UPDATE for students living off campus or in private accommodation!

If you live off campus or in private accommodation you will not be able to access the donation points on campus due to COVID-19 guidance. Only on campus students with a booked vacate slot will be able to access buildings. Instead, there are two ways you can donate:

Donate using one of the public banks in Loughborough. You can find these on a map here.
Post your donations for free using the British Heart Foundation’s new service. All the information can be found here.

Although a lot of larger charities stopped collecting donations due to COVID-19 measures, the needs of struggling communities did not stop. There are still plenty of charities like food-banks and refugee services which are in desperate need of not just monetary donations but food, stationary, toys, clothes, and much more. A study conducted by Civil Society found that 92% of charities said coronavirus has had a negative impact on their ability to meet their charity objectives. Furthermore, smaller local charities feel particularly exposed, with 1 in 8 expecting to go out of business within months.

It is incredibly important that we continue to donate, particularly to local charities and food banks, during the current coronavirus pandemic. That’s why the Sustainability Team decided to continue running Give’n’Go this year, but as a non-contact campaign instead. Although some charities are not currently able to collect donations, we are able to store your unwanted items for you and will distribute them when it is safe to do.

This year, we are working with several charities including the British Heart Foundation, Shepshed Foodbank, Beacon Christian Fellowship, and Charnwood Council’s Vulnerable Persons Resettlement services to distribute your donations to those who need them.

This has a positive impact on the environment by diverting perfectly good items from general waste and following the zero-waste hierarchy, both of which work towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. The campaign also supports our local charities as well as groups and individuals in our local community which helps work towards Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.

What can I donate?

Kitchen items such as utensils, crockery and cutlery.
Food – non-perishable cupboard food.
Duvets and pillows.
Clothing, coat hangers, shoes, and accessories.
Electrical items.
Furniture, toys, books, and stationery.

Where can I donate?

Check out our campaign webpage for the up-to-date list of donation points.

When can I donate?

The campaign starts from the 22nd June, but you will only be able to donate during the 2 hour vacate time slot you will have booked online. The full process for booking a time slot can be found here.

How does it work?

We’ve made donating as simple and as safe as possible for you. All you need to do is box or bag up your donations when you are clearing out your room, take them to the nearest donation point to your hall, then go!

There will be minimal contact with any other students or employees as you will all have allocated time slots to vacate. However, if in the rare scenario there is another student at the donation point, please be patient and wait until they have finished before dropping your stuff off.

We do also ask for students and their families to wash their hands thoroughly according to NHS guidelines before and after donating if possible. There will also be hand sanitiser available at donation points.