30 | Financial Statements 2020-21 | Buckinghamshire New University
Playing our part in tackling hygiene poverty
Making a difference to help others
Providing financial support for students in need
BNU’s Give to Refresh initiative saw staff and students joining forces with the national Beauty Banks (BB) charity to help local people living in hygiene poverty. The initiative brought together residents, retailers, businesses and politicians in a campaign spearheaded by a local media partnership. We became the first university community in London and the South to set up a public BB donation point and collected more than 1,000 items before COVID-19 lockdowns closed our campuses. We worked with organisations including food banks, homeless centres and schools to encourage them to register with BB and avoid missing out. It’s just one of the ways we’ve been transforming lives for 130 years. Our donations to a local food bank supported 890 local families living in poverty.
• During the October 2020 half term, Bucks Students’ Union provided free hot meals to all school-aged children in support of Marcus Rashford’s campaign to tackle poverty. More than £8,000 was donated to the Union’s Just Giving page in support of the SU’s ‘Free Hot meals for All’ initiative. During the 2020 Christmas holidays, the Union donated 458 festive bags of food, entertainment and treats to pupils at three High Wycombe schools.
We received an incremental Hardship Funding Grant allocation from the OfS totalling £0.9m in the year, to provide additional support for our students experiencing financial hardship over the challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic. This additional funding, together with our own funded programme of planned support for students, has combined to deliver a broad programme of support for our students in 2020-21.
We continue to build partnerships with local retailers to siphon off damaged but usable stock from landfill to Give to Refresh and help those in need. And the impact of Give to Refresh has already extended beyond our walls with local school pupils inspired by the University to create donation points in their school community. And Bucks Students’ Union received an Excellent rating in the Green Impact Award with special mention by the auditor about the impressive reach of the Give to Refresh initiative. Our university community is proud that Jo Jones, co-founder of Beauty Banks, has recognised BNU’s ‘keen and active’ support to help those living in hygiene poverty. A local food bank, One Can Trust, also spoke of our positive impact and the ‘huge help’ BNU’s donations had made to ‘people who need it most in the local community.’
• COVID restrictions prevented an annual lunch for older people and instead the Union delivered 70 hampers, with items donated by students and staff, to the Cherry Garth residential home. Chocolate selection boxes were also donated to Wycombe Homeless Connection to spread some festive cheer, in addition to student fundraising for the charity and Hillingdon Food Bank. • In May 2021, BNU staff took part in the British Inspiration Trust’s (BRIT) 2021 Challenge, to raise awareness and funds for five young adult mental health charities. Supported by our alumna, BRIT ambassador and Paralympic rowing gold medallist, Naomi Riches, MBE, our staff completed 10,054 miles through a range of activities and raised nearly £2,500 for the charities. • The University’s volunteering policy gives all staff two days’ paid leave each year to support charities of their choice. Charities which continue to benefit from this initiative include the Samaritans, Hounds for Heroes, Blood Bikes, and local hospices. Bucks Students’ Union also promotes volunteering to students and a total of 7,020 volunteering hours were logged in 2020-21.
In addition to free equipment for students through the award-winning Bucks New Usage scheme, our Bucks Hardship Fund provides discretionary financial assistance to help our students remain in higher education. It is particularly aimed at those students who need financial help to meet specific course and living costs that cannot be met from other sources of support. The fund can provide emergency payments for unexpected financial crises. Payments are usually given as grants, which do not have to be repaid, of up to £3k per year of study. We also offer interest-free loans to students on a short-term basis. We recognised that many of our students continued to face various difficulties due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 during 2020-21, when part-time employment ceased and their usual way of studying was disrupted. And so we took further steps to ease our students’ worries and concerns by: • Continuing our Bucks Emergency Allowance, in addition to our existing Hardship Fund, for students to claim up to £250 to meet any pressing money issues. More than 800 students received grants totalling £100k through the Bucks Emergency Allowance. • Introducing the Everyday Living Allowance (up to £400) to support students living in private accommodation impacted by COVID-19 to cover ‘everyday’ costs such as food, toiletries, utilities, bills and medicine. A total of £74k was shared between 211 students through this allowance.
