The Co-operative has pledged to donate £10,000 worth of stock to locked-down students.
The Manchester-headquartered retailer has teamed up with student discount platform TOTUM and student unions to support an estimated 3,000 students across the Ƶ who have been told to self isolate.
It comes after around 1,500 students at Manchester Metropolitan University were told last week .
Co-op said stock will be used to ensure those living in the worst affected areas - including Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Oxford and Swansea - still have access to essentials.
Chris Whitfield, chief operating officer at Co-op Food, said: “It’s important we pull together to support our student communities during these difficult times and we want to help ease the current situation by ensuring that students under lockdown are kept well stocked up with groceries and essentials.
“We’re delighted that our long-standing relationship with TOTUM and the National Union of Students has enabled us to get help to those most in need, as we play our part in feeding the nation.”
Local student unions will be able to pick up basics from their local Co-op and distribute it to those students most in need, Co-op said.
Meanwhile students in some major cities across the Ƶ could receive their shopping within two hours of placing their order, if ordering online or through Deliveroo.
Speaking on behalf of the National Union of Students, national president Larissa Kennedy added: “It’s great to see the student movement and co-operative movement coming together to fill the gaps left by others we look to in such crises.
Don't miss a thing - sign up for your free North West newsletter - and follow us on LinkedIn
Email newsletters
BusinessLive is your home for business news from around the North West- and you can stay in touch with all the latest news from Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria through our email alerts.
You can sign up to receive daily morning news bulletins from every region we cover and to weekly email bulletins covering key economic sectors from manufacturing to technology and enterprise. And we'll send out breaking news alerts for any stories we think you can't miss.
Visit our email preference centre to sign up to all the latest news from BusinessLive.
For all the latest stories, views, polls and more - and the news as it breaks - .
“The TOTUM and Co-op offer provided with the help of students’ unions, is a straight forward answer to the ‘how do I feed myself today?’ question that we sadly know so many students are asking.
“Access to food is a basic need and we all know the impact that worries about this place upon a person’s mental health and wellbeing.
“The quicker we can make sure students have access to food and basic amenities, the quicker we can all focus our efforts on supporting them with the some of the other challenges of this pandemic; access to online learning, mental health services and financial support being just a few.”
