Wednesday, November 6Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

MTS Lives Below the Line

What is Live Below the Line?

‘Live Below the Line’ is a challenge we’re putting forward to anyone who wants to take part. The challenge is to buy all your food for five days on only £10. That means all meals, snacks etc must come out of this budget whereas drinks and social don’t.

How is MTS getting involved and who is it for?

In the past MTS has run a November campaign called ‘No Shoes November’ in aid of War on Want which has been very successful but we felt it was time for a change, which is where ‘Live Below the Line’ comes in. This campaign is in aid of The Trussell Trust and the Runnymede Food Bank, with the aim of raising awareness surrounding extreme poverty in the UK and the hardships many people face every day just trying to get their basic needs.

How have you been getting on?

Each week we’ve had at least two committee members taking on the challenge and we’ve also had other members getting involved which is amazing to see. Personally, I found the challenge relatively easy to take on, I had enough food and I thought about what I was going to buy for the week in advance. What I found difficult was the lack of choice that I had and that I had to spend more time cooking than I usually do. However, this week made me realise that even £10 is more than what some people have, and such problems are so insignificant compared to their experiences. At the end of the day I only spent five days doing this, whereas some are forced to live their lives like this.

However, this week made me realise that even £10 is more than what some people have, and such problems are so insignificant compared to their experiences.

How can we donate?

Alongside the challenge we are trying to raise £500 for The Trussell Trust. We currently have our JustGiving page which is open for any donations however big or small, anything you can give will make a difference. Our link is https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rhul-musical-theatre-society1 and can also be found on our Facebook page. We are also donating to the Runnymede Food Bank in the form of food donations which we will be collecting in the last week of term and more information will be released on Facebook within the next few weeks.

Are there any other fundraising events in the pipeline?

On the 2nd December we have our Christmas social at The Happy Man at 7:30pm which will be in aid of ‘Live Below the Line’ where we will be accepting donations for the Runnymede Food Bank and have a classic raffle with some great prizes. ‘Live Below the Line’ is taking place until the end of term, but we promise that throughout the rest of the year we will have more charity events and campaigns in aid of our primary charity of the year, Help Refugees.