Students and staff from Bristol University will be taking part in the ‘Big Give’ this week, an end of year charity collection aimed at helping vulnerable members of the local community.

Organised by volunteers from the University’s Student Community Action Group and staff in the Energy and Environmental Management Unit, the team will take on the task of collecting the items often left behind by students leaving halls of residence and private accommodation.

The team of ten volunteers will visit 12 of the University’s halls of residences and nine student houses, which cater for around 4,000 of the University’s students, as well as setting up a donation area in the Students’ Union for students living in private accommodation.

Due to the success of last year’s event, which resulted in a collection of over 250 bags of items from tinned food, clothes to hairdryers and mini-fridges, the team has expanded the collection. They now have two vans to help them with the collection, one of which is kindly supplied by McKeown Business Moves, the University’s approved supplier for removals.

Andy Lulham, SCA Project Coordinator, said: “The motivation for the project is threefold, to help students get rid of unnecessary baggage at the end of the academic year, to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by students and to benefit the wider Bristol community.”

The project started on Monday 9 June and will continue until Sunday 22 June. All donated items will be collected, sorted and delivered to homeless hostels and charity shops in the Bristol area. Over 20 charities will receive donations, including the Julian Trust Night Shelter, St Peter's Hospice and Fairbridge West, a young people’s charity.

For more information about the project visit: www.bristolsca.org.uk/biggive/