Lancs Labour Club are providing £10 emergency food boxes for self-isolating students

The Lancaster University Labour Club has launched an emergency food box service in aid of self-isolating Lancaster students. This initiative comes in response to claims that the university is profiting from vulnerable students on campus by charging an extortionate £17.95 per day for three meals.

Many students are outraged at the university as they cannot afford to spend so much on a day’s food, therefore LULC is providing the essentials for a much more affordable price.

LULC told The Lancaster Tab: “We raised £1000 in the last 25 hours on just giving to help us subsidise the box to be as cheap as possible. We started the campaign because we thought that the uni charging £17.95 for self-isolating student’s meals is frankly exploitative, and their statement about the meals and pricing was completely inadequate.

“We know how difficult and often costly it can be to get deliveries on to campus, as delivery spots are getting harder to get and the delivery charges can often be prohibitive. Therefore we decided students needed a quicker and cheaper alternative to get food on to campus.”

LULC have created a Google form for students to request an emergency food drop, making it quick and easy for students to access essentials.

Additionally, LULC told us: “The money raised from our just giving page is going to go towards purchasing the food to provide students better value for money (subsidising or free food). Any money left over will be donated to the local food bank – as a club, we aren’t profiting. We hope that the support that our campaign is getting will also prompt the uni into treating students in halls with respect and decency, and not trying to profit off of their misfortune.”

This initiative has generated a lot of attention as LULC stated: “It’s been retweeted by MPs Cat Smith, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon & Ian Lavery.” LULC also had an interview with Heart North West Radio in which they discussed their new service. The post has since been shared by the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Angela Rayner.

In terms of support, LULC said: “We have 20+ volunteers ready to start delivering food to students and local group “Refillar” are helping us with logistics.” However, not enough students know about this new emergency food service. LULC said: “we’re struggling to reach the freshers.”

So, if you are a student struggling with self-isolation on campus or you know friends who are finding it hard to get food in these challenging times, then get in contact with LULC and they will be able to help.

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