Food banks and support services are becoming 'crucial' for students at Universities across the country - including Lincolnshire
It comes as an education think tank has found that more than a quarter of UK universities have a food bank service
More than a quarter of UK universities have a food bank service - including the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste University.
That's according to research by an education think tank which said the findings reveal the need for urgent action to support students.
Bishop Grosseteste's University's Students Union President, Connor Short says the cost of living is affecting everybody:
"We really sat around a table and thought how can we improve lives for our students and how can we tackle this crisis head on - and one key aspect of that, was the community larder.
"It's donated to regularly by both staff and students, and is used by both staff and students as and when needed.
"Also, I really think it's dependant on where student loans are at specifically, and where finances are at for people generally. You know, sort of that, last 2 weeks of the month when all of our money is drying up and we're waiting to get paid. Things get a little bit tighter - and the same can be said for students."
Connor added that there's still a stigma around the idea of needing help:
"It's not just students that are mis-managing money, it's not a Starbucks coffee that's getting in the way, it really is an address of how life is changing and now it's about changing people's mindset of what is struggling, what is a student, and what we can do as a community to help people and help one another.
"Sometimes, even just the word foodbank, for some people can act as a barrier to access. So, we tend to tend to lean on the word, community larder, and by its nature we find it's better utilized when people don't have to be referred, and people can attend, no questions asked, get what they need and leave without interrogation."
One in 10 universities has been giving out food vouchers, the report by the Higher Education Policy Institute also found.
Universities in Wales, the South West, the North East and the South East were most likely to operate a food bank, while those in Northern Ireland and London were least likely, the research said.
The Higher Education Policy Institute report was based on a website audit of the 140 members of Universities UK, to see their strategies for supporting students.
Just over half were found to offer discounts on food, while 27% were operating a food bank and 11% were giving out vouchers.
A third of Russell Group universities – some of the most prestigious UK institutions – were found to be operating a food bank, compared with 26% of other universities.
The report noted “a range of innovative interventions”, including at the University of Manchester which saw a cost-of-living working group established and £170 payments made to more than 90% of its students.
The Higher Education Policy Institute has called on all universities to establish similar working groups, launch emergency funds and include students throughout their cost-of-living response, while it said student unions can encourage their university to act by mounting cost-of-living campaigns “founded on strong evidence and excellent relationships with university staff”.
It said the Government should establish a cost-of-living taskforce which consults regularly with students and sector leaders, and called on Westminster and devolved governments to routinely increase the student maintenance loan in line with inflation.
Dr Simon Merrywest, director of student experience at the University of Manchester, said the report “raises important questions about whether universities should themselves be the ones to plug the growing gaps in student finance”.
He added: “This report clearly highlights the strength and breadth of the response of the sector to the recent cost-of-living crisis, with co-created solutions between students and university leaders at its heart.
“The financial squeeze of the last two years has brought into even sharper relief pressures on students that have been growing for many years.”
Report author Josh Freeman said universities are “stepping up as students experience their second major crisis in four years”, after the pandemic.
But he said more can be done, adding: “It is past time for the Westminster Government to address the real-terms decline in maintenance support, which leaves too many students at risk of deprivation – in what are supposed to be the best years of their lives.”
Professor Nick Braisby, vice-chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University, said he was proud that his institution had been recognised for its “comprehensive award-winning support package, enabled by agile leadership, flexible processes and committed staff”.
He added: “But universities should not and cannot bear responsibility alone for addressing the cost-of-living crisis facing our students.
“We concur with the report’s call for Government to do much more – if they do not, higher education study will simply become unaffordable for many of our students.
“Ignoring their needs will cause immense damage to our higher education sector, to our society and to our students’ life chances.”