Students in Sheffield help reach £200,000 milestone in donations for British Heart Foundation

Students from across the UK have raised over £200,000 for the charity by donating belongings they no longer needed.

Residents and team members at Student Roost, which provides accommodation for over 20,000 students across the UK, took part in the British Heart Foundation’s Pack for Good campaign by donating clothing, electrical items, books, and kitchenware that they didn’t need any more.

And in Sheffield, residents at the organisation’s eight properties donated a total of 44 bags over the summer and winter and raised £616.

Packing bags and donation boxes were provided to residents at Student Roost properties with regular collections arranged to ensure donations could be sold in British Heart Foundation stores.

The ‘Pack for Good’ campaign was launched in 2012 with the British Heart Foundation and in collaboration with universities across the UK. It encourages students who have finished their studies, or who may be moving to different accommodation, to donate any unwanted items to help raise much needed funds for the charity, and avoid tonnes of clothing and other items being sent to landfill.

Tim Reeves, the university account executive at British Heart Foundation, said: “Each year we are blown away by the amount of donations Student Roost receive from students and universities across the UK.”

With the money raised by Student Roost and universities across the UK for the campaign, the British Heart Foundation are able to fund a heart attack research project for one month, laboratory equipment for a two-year project, new developments and scientists in a heart failure research lab, and support the studies of a PhD student.