STAFF and students at Durham University have been finding a variety of Covid-secure ways to support the local community during the festive period.

The University has a Volunteering Scheme, which gives staff the opportunity to apply to volunteer during paid work-time for up to five days each year. Since January, University staff have dedicated 1,391 hours to a wide variety of local causes.

Just this month, the staff have helped make 1,500 festive crafts, which have been donated to local charities for them to sell at Christmas fairs or give to their service users as a gift.

Staff continue to support the Durham Foodbank on a monthly basis by sorting and packing food donations. This is alongside supporting Feeding Families, a North-East based charity that provides Christmas hampers to families in the local area, by collecting items for food parcels.

This year also saw the return of the University’s Christmas Wish Tree at the Bill Bryson Library. This is a two-week campaign where the University invites staff, students and, for the first time, members of the local community, to give donations or physical gifts for chosen charities.

This year, the Christmas Wish Tree campaign supported Moving on Durham and Durham Foodbank. Donate dozens of presents were donated and over £400 raised.

But it’s not just the University’s staff who have been supporting the local community, students have been doing their bit too.

In the previous academic year, 2020–2021, students completed 10,000 hours of volunteering. Many of these hours were dedicated during lockdown restrictions and the students had to think of other ways to support the community.

They conducted online tutoring, combatted generational isolation through letter writing, and held virtual tea parties and bingo sessions.

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