Students helped to bring a bit of festive cheer to those less fortunate by donating food and supplies to a homeless charity.
Members of De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) Psychology Society set up a collection point in the university’s Hawthorn Building and asked for donations to help Action Homeless, which supports people staying in its hostels and through food banks in Leicester.
Working with fellow DMU societies the DJ Society, DMU Bollywood, Forensic Society, Demon Canoe Club, Street Law and Labour Students, they collected bagfuls of quilts, sleeping bags, toiletries and food from fellow students and staff.
The donations will now be sorted by Action Homeless to help people and families across the city in need.
Final year Psychology student Liz Stokes, who helped organise the collection, said the society worked closely with Action Homeless, volunteering time to sort donations and support events such as cooking classes and pamper days.
She was among more than 80 students who took part in November’s street count which saw volunteers go out in and around Leicester at night to speak to people on the streets and find out what support was needed to help them.
Liz said: “We know from our studies that helping others is good for you so we make it part of our mission to volunteer. It’s helping the community. One donation was from a hoarder who said this had given her the meaning to get rid of her stuff.”
James Riveria of Action Homeless said: “Donations like this of food and warm clothes help us to support people using our hostels and also, when people need to move on we have clothes and sleeping bags to give them.”
Action Homeless run a food bank and collect donations from the Malcolm Arcade off Silver Street in Leicester. It is open today (Friday December 22) from 1pm to 4pm. Next week it is open from Dec 27 to Dec 29 and the following week from Monday to Friday.
Posted on Friday 22 December 2017