Community Ambassadors, Kent Unicorns, a staff netball team are supporting Kent Giving Week by taking part in 5k Your Way on Thursday 23rd March. The team want to help raise vital funds to help provide student meals for those facing hardship and struggling to afford food. This is a cause close to our hearts, working very closely with students as part of our roles at Kent, and hearing their stories makes us passionate about supporting our student community. Vice-Captain, Emma Marku agrees ‘that no students should have to choose between achieving their academic ambitions and being able to eat. Having personal experience at a young age of life without easy access to food, I am keen to support the Right to Food campaign’.

Kent Giving Week 2023 combines a programme of events to support students facing hardship with their right to access food. The aim of the event is to raise £25,000 in order to provide 10,000 meals for students who need them most. 
Your generosity could feed a student struggling to make ends meet and be the difference between them giving up on their studies altogether or building a better future for themselves. 
•    £5 could fund 2 x meals
•    £25 could fund 10 x meals
•    £100 could fund 40 x meals

 
We'd be delighted if you could help us reach the 10,000 meal target by making a donation to Kent Giving Week 2023. 

 
Kent Unicorns have developed from the All Active Social Netball session which take place on a Monday lunchtime from 12.30-1.30pm. in the Sports Centre. Kent Sport membership required. Minimum membership £2 per session with pay to play membership. For more information, please see our website or follow @ALLActiveKent on Facebook, twitter, Instagram or TikTok for updates.

Kent Giving Week is a week of fundraising activities raising vital funds for the University of Kent and its major campaigns, with a focus this year on raising £25,000 to provide student meals and hardship bursaries for those who need it most. Under the assumption that the average meal costs £5, the funds raised from Kent Giving Week 2023 would buy 5,000 meals for students facing significant financial struggles. There are many students finding themselves facing serious financial hardship to the point of being unable to afford groceries. A 2022 survey of UK students found a monthly shortfall of £439 between the average students maintenance loan and living costs with 10% of students having used a food bank in the last academic year and 47% say their diet suffers. 67% of students are concerned about managing their living costs this autumn/winter with over half of those saying it might prevent them from continuing their studies.