Janine Thorogood and Alex Houlis with this year's donations

This year the University has donated 22 crates of food and a huge collection of clothes and other items to charity, as part of our annual residences clear-up after most students move out of their residences for the summer.

As part of a joint effort between the Estates team and the Sustainability team, we work with our local partners at the British Heart Foundation every year to donate unwanted items as student residents move out for the summer, primarily clothes and miscellaneous bric-a-brac such as books and gadgets.

Last year we donated nearly 700 bags of items to the British Heart Foundation after the annual move-out, and we will be receiving the final count-up for this year from the charity group later this summer.

In addition, we have received a huge amount of donated non-perishable food from student residents. Pictured here are Student Experience Administration Officer Janine Thorogood and SEF Sustainability, Waste and Recycling Coordinator Alex Houlis with the food donations we received this year – huge thanks to everyone who contributed.

All food donated is sent to the Meeting House Pantry, which is maintained by Janine and available to all students referred by the Student Hardship team. Surplus food is also shared with the nearby Fareshare Sussex and Surrey branch, a nationwide charity which supports food banks in local communities.

We have also donated over eighty abandoned bicycles to a local Computers for Kids charity, where they are refurbished and passed on to the local community. Unwanted bicycles are also donated during the year to the Students’ Union Bike Shack and the local Brighton Bike Hub, the latter receiving an additional 20 donated bikes this summer.

Find out more about how we’re developing Sussex to be the most sustainable campus in the UK.

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