Junkbusters come to Birmingham

The University and Guild of Students worked in close partnership recently on a joint project to encourage students to donate unwanted items to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) ahead of the summer break. The scheme was developed to increase recycling and re-use, decrease waste and provide much needed stock for local BHF shops to raise funds for their vital work.

The University has been working in partnership with the BHF since 2006 and last summer local residents raised £13,000 from donations of unwanted items from students living in University accommodation. Following the success of last year’s scheme, BHF have engaged other city councils and universities nationally this summer to expand their campaign.

Community Wardens, students employed by the Guild of Students, delivered 10,000 bags and leaflets to over 2,500 houses in Bournbrook. Environmental Services and Guild of Students staff and student volunteers collected the bags with our spruced up second-hand electric Milk Float, Eco1 pictured, purchased for this initiative – in itself a model of re-use and Bangernomics!

The Junkbusters team collected over 900 bags of donations from Bournbrook, Selly Oak and the three Student Villages raising over £7,600 for BHF to date. Catherine Argyle, BHF Stock Generation Manager, said: “The milk float is a fantastic way to draw attention to our need for items. BHF Shops rely on donations of good quality clothing, shoes, accessories, CDs, DVDs, books, toys and bric-a-brac to help the fight against heart disease, so we’re very grateful that the University has continued to support us since our partnership began in 2006".