We Got Thrifty at Freshers'!

Wednesday 02-10-2024 - 10:44

During last week's Freshers' Week, Thrifty Business launched the first event of the Savvy Students campaign, organised by your Students' Union President, Maisie. Donations of clothing, kitchen utensils, crockery, books and other useful household items were collected from staff and students at Wrexham University and given a new lease of life to students in attendance.

The event was put in place to continue our efforts to be as environmentally conscious as possible!

In 2024, your Students’ Union received multiple awards, including the NUS Campaign of the Year award for our Help Yourshelf (HYS) campaign, which focused on food surplus and support, alongside an Excellent Award from Green Impact Students' Unions. We've also previously earned several awards from Students Organising for Sustainability UK.

During the event, Help Yourself alongside Period Dignity and Wrexham Council's environmental team provided guidance to over 140 students. The environmental team shared information about recycling solutions and facilities in Wrexham Borough. Katie from the HYS campaign gave out snack packs and cereal from funding secured through Wrexham Round table and Kellonova. Students were informed about food surplus collection days at the Students’ Union, which are currently Tuesdays and Fridays. Our HYS initiative will continue throughout the year, with the exception of breaks over the Christmas period.

Over 50 students pledged to support sustainability work in 2024 on the day, and these pledges included reusing food surplus from HYS; turning off power to switches when not in use; recycling more; choosing to cycle or walk instead of driving and switching from hot washes to cold.

Our Head of Membership Services, Carrie, has ensured that every student has access to sanitary products throughout the University, including the satellite campuses in Northop and St Asaph. At the event, Carrie shared a range of products from TOTM, a provider of sanitary wear. The Period Dignity initiative continues to work with Wings, a local community resource, and aims to continue to strengthen the resource.