A scheme launched by Nottingham Trent University (NTU) which encourages students in the city to donate tens of thousands of bags of unwanted items to charity has been recognised with a national award.

The Pack for Good campaign – involving NTU, the University of Nottingham and Nottingham City Council – offers university students and staff the opportunity to donate items such as clothes, electricals, books and furniture that might otherwise go to landfill to British Heart Foundation collection banks on campus and in the local community.

The successful partnership was named the winner in the Retail Partner category at the British Heart Foundation’s Heart Hero awards at a star-studded ceremony in London.

Raising hundreds of thousands for medical research

The Pack For Good campaign was launched as part of an initial partnership between NTU and the BHF, previously known as ‘Give it, Don’t Bin it’. It quickly expanded, bringing the University of Nottingham and the City Council on board as part of a city-wide approach.

Since then, around 60,000 bags of donations, plus furniture and electrical items, have been collected, raising £800,000 for BHF research heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors.

NTU staff and students: achieving excellence together 

Charmaine Morrell, Sustainable Development Manager at NTU, says “I’m thrilled we have won the Heart Hero award – it is great recognition for the Nottingham partnership, showing what can be achieved together. Through the generosity of Nottingham’s students and staff, we have raised significant funds to help BHF continue their vital work.

“The donations have funded research grants, training and providing vital equipment, including defibrillators. To have diverted 60,000 bags from waste to this great cause is a huge achievement, but we won’t stop there. We will continue to work together for this life-giving cause.”

The BHF Heart Hero Awards celebrate individuals of all ages who have shown immense strength in the face of adversity or have made a significant impact in helping those living with heart and circulatory diseases.

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