Skip to main content

Thank you for donating to local foodbanks!

Category
Community collaboration
Homepage News
News
Date

The University of Leeds and Leeds University Union (LUU) joined forces this winter to help support local food banks. Donations from staff, students, and local residents made this support possible.

We want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made it possible to donate food items to Rainbow Junk-tion, Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (PAFRAS), and Love in a Box at Leeds Grand Mosque last week during the winter food drive.

Staff, students and local residents donated a huge amount of food to drop-off points and collections, coordinated by the University’s Sustainability Service, Leeds University Union, Residential Services, Coffee on the Crescent and local Councillors Garthwaite, Pryor and Walshaw.

A special thank you goes out to everyone who took the time to donate. Your support for food banks is invaluable, particularly after such a challenging year, and will help the people who need it most this festive season.

A huge 180kg was donated at residential sites and delivered to Rainbow Junk-tion. One particular student, Isobel Sale, donated over 13 kilograms!

bags of food with two volunteers

Volunteers at Rainbow-Junktion as the donations were dropped off by Residential Services. 

Crates of food were also collected in the Union which were donated to both PAFRAS and Rainbow Junk-tion. Union Affairs Officer Izzy said:

I think everyone is acutely aware of those facing challenging times this year, and this year has shown us how quickly circumstances can change. It feels like this has ignited a real community spirit and energised students to get more involved in the local community and supporting however they can.

Table with donated food on and a woman receiving donations

Izzy Foster, Union Affairs Officer, collecting donations in LUU.

The recipients of the food donations have also expressed their gratitude.

Emily Carrigan, Manager at Rainbow Junk-tion, said:

I can tell you that without this kind of brilliant community support we would not be able to have stayed open all through the pandemic, and now through the winter, to keep supporting hundreds of people in food poverty.

a store room full of food and green crates

Stocks at Rainbow Junk-tion were replenished through the help of organisations across the city including the University. 

Khalid Abdullah, Manager at Love in a Box, said:

I was really surprised at how much non-perishable food was donated and cannot express my thanks to you all. There is nothing better in times like this than helping the most vulnerable in our surroundings and really hope that Love in a Box can make a difference, with the help of great people like yourself and the amazing councillors that we have.

over 20 bags of food on the floor with volunteers in the background

Donations from across the community were delivered to Love in a Box at Leeds Grand Mosque. 

The Sustainability Service also donated food and essential items to a local primary school to support the amazing work they are doing for their pupils and families at this difficult time. 

Thank you again to everyone who has been involved in the project! If you would still like to donate, Rainbow Junk-tion accept direct donations on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays (10am – 4pm), and you can contact the other organisations directly to organise drop-offs. 

Keep up to date on the latest news

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

We use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to guide our activity. Our community work is linked to the following SDGs:

      • Goal 1: No Poverty
      • Goal 2: Zero Hunger
      • Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
      • Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Find out more about our impact on the SDGs.