Brits are good at talking about the weather; In Summer we complain that it’s too hot, in Spring it’s too wet and in Winter we complain about the cold. But spare a thought for those who have no shelter from the elements, those who spend their days and nights on the streets of our towns and cities, the far too many homeless people that don’t have the option to snuggle under a warm, dry duvet as the frosty weather sets in.
The volunteers at Macclesfield Crisp Blankets have stepped up to help out. They collect used crisp packets and transform them into bivvi blankets for the homeless, they seal and iron together the insulating foil packets to make waterproof bivvie bags which double up as a sleeping bag.
Students and staff have been donating empty crisp packets at our Students’ Union shops at Leek Road and College Road sites and we recently dropped off a delivery of 628 packets which our volunteers had washed and cut ready for ironing.
It takes 150 crisp packets to make a bivvie blanket, so our donation is enough to make 4 blankets – that’s not bad going since we only started collecting in January!
You can find out more about Macclesfield Crisp Blankets via their Facebook page and please save your empty foil crisp packets and keep donating them at the Students’ Union shops.
April Update
Our students and staff sure do like their crisps...and have big hearts too!
We have collected another 458 packets! Enough for another 3 bivvy bags. :-)
Please keep donating - every packet makes a difference.