During #iwill Week in November, students from the Royal Holloway foodbank team, successfully organised a Christmas collection for Runnymede Foodbank. The student volunteering team received enough donations from staff and fellow students, to fill an incredible 15 crates worth of food. These donations will help to support many local families and individuals needing food during the festive period.#iwill Week is a campaign that celebrates young people making a difference in their communities.
The Runnymede Foodbank is supported by The Trussell Trust, and works to combat poverty and hunger across the UK. In 2019, Runnymede gave out 43,731 emergency meals to people in crisis. No one in the community should have to face going hungry and that’s why Royal Holloway run the annual collection to help Runnymede Foodbank provide at least three days’ worth of nutritionally balanced emergency food to local people who are referred to them in a crisis.
Vasil Lazarov, student team leader and student at Royal Holloway, said: “During #iwill Week 2020, myself and the Royal Holloway foodbank team were delighted to receive so many donations from our campus community! We had no idea whether we would receive any donations, especially with the reduced number of staff and students on campus. However, we were met with an incredible response from the Royal Holloway community and collected an amazing number of crates for people in need, which was a lovely portrayal of the power our social action projects have. Now, as the end of term approaches, we are looking forward to collecting even more and making someone’s Christmas much better!”
Phil Simcock, Volunteering Manager at Royal Holloway, said: “Supporting local residents in need has always been at the heart of volunteering for Royal Holloway students, and organising campus collections for the local foodbank has taken place annually for at least the past five years now. We know this is a practical way of serving our local community, especially making a difference at Christmas time when food crisis becomes a greater problem for people, and even more so during the pandemic.”
Visit Royal Holloway volunteering for more information about volunteering opportunities at Royal Holloway.
