Mansfield college students give two charities a boost with donations

The level one health and social care students chose the Beacon Project and Mansfield Soup Kitchen to raise funds and produce for.

The groups launched a request for food, drink, toiletries and clothing, all essential items that Mansfield’s Beacon Project need for their service users, and the group contacted the charity to find out exactly what their needs were and tailored their collections around that.

Their second mission was to raise as much money as possible for the Mansfield Soup Kitchen, to enable them to continue their volunteer-led group which feeds the town’s homeless each Wednesday evening from its Church Street premises.

The students wrote to a number of businesses and organisations asking for their help in donating prizes and vouchers which they put towards a raffle.

A total of £264.60 was raised through the raffle and the proceeds were divided between Mansfield Soup Kitchen and The Beacon Project, situated behind St John’s Church.

Louisa Hillman, manager of The Beacon Project, visited the students before they finished for the end-of-term and students presented Louisa with boxes of donated clothing, toiletries and food which were both donated and purchased.

Louisa said: “This is just amazing. Everything that these students has collected is very much appreciated and will benefit our service users so much.

“We’ve really struggled getting food in bulk during the pandemic and donations have really reduced as people in the community are all struggling themselves. It’s great to receive this cash donation and all of these brilliant products.

"It’s not just about collecting food because our service users need toiletries such as wipes and sun cream - such a wide range of things that people don’t always think about.

Kat Baker, health and social care tutor, said: “This group have worked incredibly hard on their learning company project to help these two well-known charities. Not only have they employed some remarkable business and marketing skills to achieve what they have, but they’ve shown the caring and empathetic characteristic which are so important for those wishing to enter careers in health and social care.”