Issued by City of York Council
A partnership between the British Heart Foundation, City of York Council and the students of York’s universities, has resulted in over 25 tonnes of unwanted goods – worth over £40,000 to the charity – being saved from landfill.
Clothes, books, CDs and DVDs were amongst the donated items, given as part of a recycling push by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) which targeted students as they left the city at the end of the 2012/13 academic year.
Through its Smarter York initiative, City of York Council partnered BHF’s end of year Moving On? campaign which encouraged students from University of York and York St John University to recycle for the charity. This was another strand to the city’s annual end of term campaign which works with students, landlords and both universities through the Student Community Strategy.
Thanks to the co-operation of both the city’s universities, seven sites across York were identified for donation banks through which 1,899 bags of goods were collected, raising an amazing £37,980 for BHF. The Smarter York team is looking forward to the second year of this partnership with BHF and is already developing plans to build on this success.
The University of York endorsed a BHF on-campus recycling drive too, which yielded a further 10.8 tonnes. It has inspired the Student Union to consider this as an annual event while York St John University is looking into this sort of on-campus recycling.
Cllr David Levene, City of York Council’s Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, said: “The campaign is a great benchmark on which to grow future campaigns with the universities in York and to encourage students to put their unwanted items towards a very good cause.
“Encouraging recycling in this way has helped us send less to landfill, reduce quantities of rubbish presented outside collection times and has helped build relationships between the student and resident communities.”
The British Heart Foundation is delighted with the campaign’s result, which surpassed expectations. Catherine Argyle, Regional Stock Manager for BHF said: “The response from York students has been fantastic. Each BHF shop needs to receive 400 bags of unwanted items a week to keep shelves stocked and, thanks to generous donations from students and staff at York Universities we have been able to help our shops in the York area.
“Any other colleges, universities or businesses interested in working with the BHF shops and providing collection facilities can get in touch with Karen O’Donoghue by email.
“Coronary heart disease is the UK’s single biggest killer, shattering the lives of too many children, parents and grandparents – you can join the fight for every heartbeat by having a clear-out and using the new facilities to donate your unwanted things.”
Kallum Taylor, University of York Student Union president, said: “We are delighted that York students have got behind this project. 10.8 tonnes is a great start and we hope the project goes from strength to strength. This, combined with our own kitchenware recycling scheme has meant that University of York students have diverted over 20 tonnes of waste from landfill.”
The donation banks have remained in place with high levels of student and community use alike and will be relocated if needed to maximise their efficiency. Eight BHF banks are also on the University of York campus for the use of staff and students.
Smarter York would like to thank York St Johns University, the University of York and all of York’s students who supported the campaign. For more information visit the Smarter York website.
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