MK's food bank feeds students at a private university

Over the past year the charity has delivered around 2,000 items of donated food to the University of Buckingham’s student welfare office.

The most popular foodstuffs are Pot Noodles, tinned soup, cereal pots, crisps, peanuts and fizzy drinks.

All have been donated by the public, but many are not items suitable for the thousands of food parcels the charity distributes each year to needy people in MK.

Food Bank project manager John Marshall confirmed MK Food Bank van delivers to the University of Buckingham at the start of each of its four annual terms.

He said: “We were surprised at first when we heard there were students at Buckingham University going hungry. But once we realised there was a need, we were happy to help.

“A lot of our food donations come from Buckingham town so it is nice that we can give something back.”

University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Alistair Alcock said the uni set up its own food bank last year and many donations came directly from local retailers.

He said: “It is certainly not the case that all our students are affluent. Recent statistics published in the Sunday Times revealed 30 per cent of Buckingham’s students are from the lowest social class.

“Increasingly we are welcoming students who live locally, and up to an hour’s drive away, who choose to come here because they can’t afford to go away to university.”