Last year was a massive year for CitySA. We won Students' Association of the Year at the NUS Awards, which was testament to the campaigns we ran last year.
Covid-19 Care Packages
Free Soup in January
Sock It
World Mental Health Day
In March this year, we were hit with the news that the College would be shutting due to the on-going Covid-19 Pandemic. At this time, people were panic buying essential items, meaning there was a shortage of these items in supermarkets. We decided to create care packages for the elderly in the local college area filled with items such as soap, tinned goods and other perishables.
This campaign raised £1189, meaning we could provide 80 care packages. We also received national press coverage on the STV News and Glasgow Live. We had money space which we donated to local charities such as Refuweegee, Women's Aid and The Wayside Club.
Our 'free soup' campaign was intended to support students financially during the winter when money would be most stretched. Partnering with the Student Experience Directorate and Baxter’s Story we were able to provide free soup and homemade bread for the whole month of January to 6097 students. Our student survey showed that out of 254 respondents 70% agreed that the initiative was very helpful in managing their finances. Following the campaigns success Baxter Storey went on to pilot £1 pasta pots in Februrary.
For the second year in a row we ran “SockIT” which is a campaign to help homeless people during the cold winter Christmas period. We encouraged staff and students to fill a sock with essential items which we donated to the Lodging House Mission. 130 socks were donated this year! Overall comments were very positive as this enabled students and staff to give something back to their community, so they know that they can make a difference within their local community by donating.
For World Mental Health Day we encouraged students to "Take a Break" out of their busy schedules and enjoy a free hot chocolate and Kit Kat. On the day, we interacted with 390 students.
