UNIVERSITY staff and students showed their Christmas spirit by collecting clothes, shoes and money for homeless people.
The annual appeal was again led by Maggie McDowell, a criminology teacher in Durham University’s school of applied social sciences, with support from her students.
Together, they collected 50 bags of clothes and raised enough money to give Christmas presents of toiletries and selection boxes to 90 people.
The donations will be distributed by Newcastle-based Changing Lives, formerly The Cyrenians, at a Christmas lunch event tomorrow (Friday, December 20).
Dr McDowell became involved in the appeal after interviewing homeless women as part of her PhD studies in 2009.
She said: “I became aware that homeless service providers and distribute clothing and footwear to service users and in so doing rely heavily on donations from the public.
“Whilst these donations are highly valued, they are also quickly distributed.”
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