2024 - 2025

After a little break over the summer period, Help Yourshelf is back! Surplus food collections will be available to all every Tuesday and Friday during term-time.

You can find the Help Yourshelf zone in the SU building's main corridor (right next to the Sabbatical Officers Office)

Welcome Week 2024 

We introduced new and returning students to our Help Yourshelf Campaign during our Thrifty Business event with free snack packs, breakfast cereal & toiletries and we are so proud to be able to continue this campaign for another year.

   

How do you like your eggs? Pantry Takeover

WSV residents were treated to their first Pantry Takeover of the year with free breakfast items such as eggs, pastries, bread and milk to get them set up for the day ahead!

   

   

 

 

2023 -2024

Summer and Welcome Week

Great news! In July 2023 we secured £1500 of funding from HEFCW. With this money we have been able to make 40 wellbeing boxes, 100 meal kits, breakfast kits and restock the cupboard significantly! We have also been busy making recipe cards for students to make cheap healthy meals.

Keep an eye out during Welcome Week for regular giveaways of over 100 meal kits and 40 wellbeing boxes!

We are also happy to announce the purchase of a new fridge-freezer, meaning we can now keep fresh and frozen produce!

     

 

Neighbourly Donations

You may have noticed on our social media, that we receive donations from Sainsbury’s and Aldi through our partnership with Neighbourly. We are pleased to announce that the Aldi donations will be a much more regular occurrence as we are now primary collectors! You can find out more about Neighbourly here, but please keep an eye out for donation updates on our Instagram and Facebook.

      

Guidelines for Help Yourshelf food surplus collection

• Please be respectful of others while collecting the items. You are in an office working environment, so please keep noise to a minimum!
• Be mindful of others and only take what you need
• Dispose of unwanted items or food left over by using your community waste guidelines or the correct bins or composting area
• Never expect others to dispose of your waste

Please be respectful of having this opportunity to receive the food surplus, Students’ Union staff are volunteering to provide this service and work hard to keep these opportunities available.

 

Elf Yourshelf This Christmas

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And thanks to a successful Lidl Community Grant bid we can treat our WSV residents who are staying with us over the Christmas period.

If you would like a Christmas Food Care Package delivered to your door on the 18^th of December please fill in this type form before the 14^th of December https://form.typeform.com/to/UE42nNHt

          

We received 32 requests for an Elf Yourshelf Christmas package, we hope you all enjoyed them! We included ingredients to make a ‘Toad in the Hole’, fruit, vegetables, nuts, snacks, cleaning products and plenty of Christmas treats!

The Students’ Union is now back open so please contact us directly if you find yourself in need of essentials this semester.

We also have lots of exciting plans for the campaign, so please keep an eye out for updates on our social media channels.

 

Help Yourshelf in London!

We have been working with the Student Guild Team at Bloomsbury Institute and we are excited to announce the Help Yourshelf Campaign will be available to our Partner Students in London from January 2024! We have sent some supplies to get the campaign off the ground but this will be run by the amazing Student Guild Team in Bloomsbury. We are so proud of this collaboration and excited to be able to support more students than ever before.

 

Go Green Week 2024 

The latest initiative from the Campaign to help Students tackle food waste and save money are insulated lunch bags! We only have 100 to give way so keep an eye out for giveaways throughout Go Green Week and Wipe Out Waste Wednesday in the canteen.

     

 

Cooked too much for dinner last night? Bring it for lunch and warm it up in the microwave available to all students (free of charge) in Glyn’s Bar and Lounge.

 

Wellbeing Week 2024

Help Yourshelf was on the move for Wellbeing Week, with lots of breakfast items made available for our WSV residents… don’t forget Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! The WSV Launderette was full of Breakfast goods.. we hope you enjoyed them! Keep an eye out for more takeovers in the Pantry coming soon!  

           

We also highlighted the campaign during the Wellbeing Fair along with Period Dignity with Meal Kits and essentials made available for all. 

The Campign also made it to Northop, St Asaph and Regent Street with 60 Revision Re-fuel bags for students to enjoy.

          

 

Help Yourshelf with Lidl

You may have noticed cakes, bakes and breads available through Help Yourshelf which have been collected from Lidl… in March we received confirmation that we have secured a primary collection going forward so you can expect to see much more in future! We couldn’t be happier with how the partnership with Neighbourghly is growing and hope you enjoy the treats! We’ll keep you posted on our social media pages when donations arrive on campus.

     

 

Help Yourshelf With Kellogg's 

We are pleased to announce that Kellogg’s will be supporting our campaign moving forward. In April, we received a huge donation from the Wrexham branch and look forward to distributing these to our students.

Thank You Kellogg’s!

 

 

NUS Cymru Award Winners

Great news! Our SUVP Maisie and NUS Delegate Keyur attended the NUS Wales Conference in Aberystwyth and Help Yourshelf won Campaign of the Year! We were so pleased to win this award, long may this wonderful campaign continue!

     

Diolch NUS Cymru!

 

St Asaph Campus Update 

After receiving feedback from our St Asaph cohorts, we have been able to fund a new fridge in the study room for students to store milk for hot drinks and lunch.

We hope this helps you to save some money in the future...

     

 

Help Yourshelf to a free breakfast in United Kitchen 

In April 2024 we were able to fund a free cooked breakfast for students on our Plas Coch Campus. Vouchers were given out randomly for 30 students to enjoy a hot breakfast and a brew… if you were one of the lucky people we hope you enjoyed it and it fueled you for the day.

      

 

WSV Pantry Takeover

We understand May can be a stressful time for a lot of students so we have taken over the Pantry at WSV Launderette and filled it with breakfast staples to help you through the day!

There’s plenty of eggs, beans, pastries, bread, fruit, juice, milk and cereal to fuel you for exams or assignments that may be ahead! Hope you enjoy…

How do you like your eggs?

      

 

Trussel Trust & Gresford Food Cupboard Collaborations 

May and June saw some exciting collaborations with Trussel Trust Food Bank and The Gresford Food Cupboard.

We are so grateful for the support received from these amazing organisations and we hope to work with them more in the future.  They have kindly donated every-day essentials such as bread and potatoes and sweet treats like Flap Jacks and Cookies.

     

 

 

 

 

2022-2023

Update 

Due to the enormous popularity of Help Yourshelf since October, WGSU have made the decision to limit the access to a request basis only. We have tried to avoid this but, to ensure that people who need support get the most appropriate provisions we believe that this is the most appropriate thing to do. We will continue to offer support including sign posting to university and external agencies. We will also continue to work with Neighbourly, Food Share and community organisations.  

For more information, request for support or to make a donation please contact;

WGSU reception union@glyndwr.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

 

We know the difficulties students are facing during the cost of living crisis and we are proud to launch our Help Yourshelf Food Bank Campaign.

Help Yourshelf means exactly that! In the main corridor of the Student’s Union Building based on the Plas Coch Campus in Wrexham, you will find donations available to all student’s if you are in a time of need.

These donations include non-perishable food items, self-care products and stationery.

If you find yourself in need of any of these items, just come along and Help Yourshelf! No referrals needed.

In addition, if you find that you have items you wish to donate, you can do so at the following drop off points:

• Main University Reception
• SU Reception
• Library Building on the Plas Coch Campus

For more information please contact Katie.taffinder@glyndwr.ac.uk or carrie.bennett@glyndwr.ac.uk

As of November 2022, WGSU have set up Help Yourshelf at the St Asaph OpTIC Campus,

if you would like to make a donation or need something for yourself you can find it in the study room.

Instead of a Secret Santa this Christmas, our pre and post registration nursing staff have kindly donated to our Help Yourshelf Campaign. We’d like to thank Rhiannon and all the staff involved for this huge donation!

Head over to the Students’ Union Building to Help Yourshelf if you find yourself in a time of need this Christmas.

 

 

Help Yourshelf Christmas Access 

We are overwhelmed by the communities generosity and we thank you for your support over the first few weeks of the campaign. Below is important information about how to access Help Yourshelf for the period before Christmas

Help Yourshelf will be accessible until the 23rd and will Re-open on the 3rd January 2023

All Students and Staff will need to access the building with their ID cards

The cupboard will be accessible although it may be closed, it won’t be locked, just slide the door to your right.

 

A donation box will be available to level non-perishable foods pasta, rice, dried goods, Stationery and self-care Items.

Please be mindful of checking the dates on the product that you donate, unfortunately we cannot use 'out of date products' for the shelf.

Help Yourshelf have now launched a donation page for those who wish to contribute to the campaign but cannot make it on to campus

https://bit.ly/3hqQvvz

 

Thank you and Best Wishes for the season,

Katie Taffinder & Carrie Bennett 

 

Local MP Supports Help Yourshelf 

In January 2023, Sarah Atherton visited WGSU to learn more about our Help Yourshelf Campaign. Campaign Lead Katie, WGSU Staff, VC Maria Hinfelaar and DVC Claire Taylor answered Sarah’s questions and gratefully received a donation for the shelf. Staff also took this opportunity to voice concerns of the cost of living crisis and how this is affecting our students and their day to day lives

 

Food Share 

Food Share will be available to all Students this Semester. Help Yourshelf has been registered with Neighbourghly, which means any surplus food available from Supermarkets will be made available for us to collect and share with you. Please keep an eye out on our Socials for live updates of when these donations become available. Please note, a lot of this food will be fresh and close to its sell by date so please be quick! By being part of this scheme, we are saving lots of good food from going to land fill!

WGSU would also like to thank WGU for their kind donation of a fridge to make this possible and congratulations to our Campaign Lead Katie Taffinder for completing a Food Hygiene Course, making sure all fresh food donations are kept safely for everyone to use and enjoy.

 

Help Yourshelf to a Ready Made Kit 

      

Not sure what to make for tea? Revision taking its toll? Or just fancy a brew?

Staff have been busy making up meal kits, revision refuel bags, self-care kits and brew kits from our donations to make it easier for you to Help Yourshelf! There’s lots of different bags available, come and check them out at the SU Building on Plas Coch Campus… These will also be available at St Asaph and WSV very soon!

 

Help Yourshelf at Wrexham Student Village

As part of our Wellbeing Week 2023 which will be week commencing the 13^th of March, staff are busy making Help Yourshelf Kits for a Wrexham Student Village Pantry take over!

 

Wrexham AFC

To recognise our Help Yourshelf Campaign and all the great work we have achieved so far, Wrexham AFC kindly donated 40 tickets for their game against York on the 25^th of March 2023. This gave us the opportunity to encourage our student community to engage with our neighbours.

Easter Break Access

Help Yourshelf will close over the Easter Bank Holidays but, here are some handy hints, tips & hacks from Love Food Hate Waste to support you over the holidays 

Batch Cooking

 

 

When cooking a family favourite (like bolognaise…mmm!), simply increase the ingredients you

cook, and store the extra portions in the freezer for a quick meal another day.

Follow these simple steps:

• Plan your meal: decide how many additional portions you plan to cook and check the recipe you’re using. You’ll need to increase each of the ingredients depending on how many extra portions you’re planning to cook.
• Organise your freezer: depending on the number of portions you’re cooking, and the containers you plan to use, you may need to create some space in your freezer.
• Cool: After cooking, let the extra portions cool completely.
• Transfer: Split the portions between containers if you want the option to use the extra portions over several occasions, or one container if you plan to use all portions at the same time. 
• Freeze: Date and label the container so it can be easily found, and place in the freezer to use within 6 months.

For further hints, tips and hacks 

https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Stock Update 

Thanks to an anonymous donation and money raised at your Students’ Union, our Help Yourshelf has been replenished!

Due to high demand of goods, Help Yourshelf is currently operating on a request basis to union@glyndwr.ac.uk