College News

QE students supply hats for the homeless

Volunteering plays a hugely important role at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College (QE), Darlington, and as winter draws in, students wanted to help tackle the problems faced by the homeless. The group were inspired by a quote from a spokesperson from The Big Issue North which said: ‘People experiencing homelessness are at risk of significant health problems, including hypothermia. This can occur throughout the year as even warm days are followed by cold nights. A knitted hat can help to protect someone from the cold and it also provides dignity, humanity and the proof that somebody else cares about them’. After having heard this quote, the students decided to take action and together with Holy Trinity Church, they knitted and bought hats before donating them to the charity, Hats for the Homeless. They set themselves an initial target of being able to deliver 20 hats, however their final total came to 51, a fantastic result for a very worthy cause.

Nicole Seal, a member of the College’s volunteering group, comments: ‘We should remember how lucky we are. It has been incredibly cold as of late, especially with all of the storms which have brought freezing rain and high winds, and I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for those living on the streets’. Nancy Wall, volunteering co-ordinator at QE, adds: ‘These young people never cease to surprise me. They are not just community minded and socially aware, but are always willing to do something about it. As always, I am very proud of what they have done and I’d like to thank Holy Trinity Church for their support too’.

The hats will be distributed not only in the North East but country wide.

For more information on QE’s volunteering group, please contact Nancy Wall (nwall@qeliz.ac.uk).