The We Own it society at Leeds Beckett have set up a charity donation drive in aid of various charities across Leeds.
The 200 strong group were inundated with donations of food, clothes, toiletries from students, staff and the university itself.
Polly Batch, one of the leaders of the society, wanted to help out her local community as many charities have struggled during the pandemic.
A study by Pro Bono economics in 2020 suggested that 1 in every 10 charities could face bankruptcy because of the pandemic.
They also found that all charities across the country could lose a combined income of £6.4 bn.
Batch stated she was pleased with the number of donations they had received and said the drive had been “successful”.
“We’ve had loads of different donations of children’s toys, clothes and more,” she said.
“The students union were amazing too; their zero waste kitchen gave us an incredible amount of sanitary products.”
Research from Plan International shows 3 in 10 girls aged between 14-21 had issues accessing sanitary products during the coronavirus lockdown in 2020.
As well as holding charity events, the society also hold events to help bring the group together.
The society was started by Batch to provide a safe space for anyone who identifies as a woman.
“Unfortunately, I experienced sexual harassment from someone during first year, and a lot of my friends had as well.”
“We needed a place where we could come together and be able to talk about our issues.”
“Women in our society can come and talk to us and say, ‘this happened to be, I’m not okay, I don’t want to go to the police but I want support.'”
