Solent Students’ Union to open community pantry on campus as cost-of-living crisis impacts students
Solent Students’ Union (SU) have launched a new way to support Solent University students, called the SU Exchange, to ensure they don’t miss out on basic living essentials due to the cost-of-living crisis.
The SU Exchange opened its doors today, Monday 28 November, and includes a community pantry, book exchange, thrift store and a microwave for use. It will also offer free period products and condoms for students to collect.
All Solent University students are welcome to use the service and access stock to take home through a one-off payment of £5. This will last until the end of the academic year and students can use the service once a day to take up to five items at a time.
The plan was made following a recent survey by ‘Save the Student’, who said that 82 per cent of students are worried about making ends meet. The student money survey 2022, found that 52 per cent of students have thought about dropping out due to money difficulties.
Steph Stangroom, Head of Student Wellbeing for the SU, said: “Supporting students through this crisis is so important, with the government forgetting or rather disregarding how heavily students are impacted.
“We do not want students to sacrifice their education for something that is completely out of their control. We can’t yellow sticker or student discount our way out of this.
“Here at the SU, we are aware that more needs to be done to help our students in a proactive way, but this is just one small way the SU can help to take away some worries for students by ensuring they have easy access to day-to-day necessities, like food and hygiene products.
“We strongly encourage any student who is or may struggle over the winter months to please use our SU Exchange. We are all in this together and we are here to help all students.”
Alongside the SU Exchange, Solent SU is also working hard to support students through the cost-of-living crisis, with more information on this campaign being shared soon.
The SU Exchange is located at Solent University near the SU office.
To find out more information, visit www.solentsu.co.uk or follow @solentSU on all social media platforms for updates.