This service  provides emergency food packages to students at the University of the West of Scotland who find themselves struggling financially for a variety of reasons and are given much needed practical support. Distribution is administered by Student Services at the university with 60 food bags being accessed in the last Academic year. 

These are a few of the examples of the impact our Student Support Services contribution have made:

N was a victim of red tape, UWS forgot to press a button confirming attendance at university meaning that student loans didn’t pay out her loan payment in September so no money for rent, food, heating etc. As well as a small grant from the uni hardship fund she was given a vital food bag which allowed her to use the grant to pay for heating and travel to lectures. N emailed the support worker the next day saying “Thank you so much for listening to me yesterday and giving me hankies when I was upset. You helped me so much and I realised that I could stay at uni ‘til things were sorted out. The money and the food are absolute life savers for me.” 

S started uni in September 2018, married with a 13 year old child. Her partner left in September 2019 meaning income reduced by 75%. She thought she would have to give up her studies. We were able to give her some money from the hardship fund, a food bag and some toiletries. When she left she gave me a hug and told me she was mortified at having to ask for help but knowing that there were people out there who didn’t even know her but were willing to help was unbelievable. She promised that when she got back on her feet she would do the same for someone else if she could.   

See UWS Student Support Pages for more information on their work.

https://www.uws.ac.uk/university-life/student-support-wellbeing/