Kind hearted UON student donates £450 food vouchers

A kind hearted criminologist from the University of Northampton has donated £450 worth of food vouchers to help support fellow students in need.

First-year Criminology Student, Ben Eva, 32, who lives in Milton Keynes, quickly realised that many of his fellow first year students, who had not been able to get home at the start of the pandemic outbreak, were feeling the strain.

As a mature student, Ben had chosen to opt for on campus food vouchers as part of his student perks package – already having a laptop and not needing a discount on halls accommodation, as he was living at home.

Speaking about the donation of £450 worth of food vouchers, Ben said: “I could see on the University Facebook groups that some of the first-year students living in halls were becoming very anxious as the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

“People were worried about how to get home and were worried about their finances as they were unable to work. When the pandemic first struck, the precious final instalment of student loans, was a long way away from hitting bank accounts, how people were going to afford food was troubling so many people.”

“As I was living at home, I was in a fortunate position, I hadn’t yet used all of the on-campus food vouchers, I wasn’t reliant on them to stock my cupboards, and I wanted to help out my fellow students. I asked my tutor, Paula Bowles, how I could get the vouchers to those students in need, she was ready to help.”

Paula Bowles, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Northampton said: “This is an incredible act of kindness by Ben, he’s demonstrating a true Changemaker ethos, spotting a challenge for his student community and coming up with a creative solution to supporting his fellow students.”

“It’s times like this that remind us that we must all stick together and look after one another. I would like to send my thanks and gratitude to Ben, I know the students who receive these much-needed vouchers will be very grateful too.”

Ben’s vouchers will now be distributed by the Residential Life team to those students still living in halls, who need them most.