Durham students had eggs thrown at them whilst volunteering with homelessness charity

Really? Another classism-related incident Durham?


A Cuth’s student has described how she and her housemate had eggs thrown at them while they were handing out hot water bottles to rough sleepers on Silver Street a few nights ago.

This incident is the latest in a string of classism-related incidents at Durham. Since the start of term, the university has expelled two students for racist and misogynistic comments, and one fresher had their offer revoked for classist comments made in a group chat. 

Tamzin and her housemate were handing out hot water bottles to rough sleepers on Silver Street as part of the Heat for the Homeless project in Durham, when they were interrupted by somebody throwing eggs at them. They were volunteering with Durham Action on Single Housing, who do incredible work by providing accommodation and support to people who are, or about to become homeless. 

Though Tamzin was unable to identify the person responsible, she speculates that the culprit could be a student, as Market Square is such a student-dense area. She says they were just left with the sight of “an awful lot of eggs on the ground”. 

Speaking to The Tab Durham, Tamzin expressed both her anger towards those responsible and her “gratitude” for the support shown on Overheard at Durham Uni, where many students condemned those responsible and left kind messages.

Tamzin said she wants “those responsible to feel ashamed of their actions” and realise the effect they have had on the most vulnerable people in our community. She adds that this behaviour towards rough sleepers in Durham wasn’t an isolated incident, and just later that night, she saw more homeless people being targeted in a “drunken attack”.

Although she says the incident is “reprehensible”, she is warmed by the response she has received. She says the comments on the page “act as a reminder that little moments of kindness aren’t invalidated by the senseless actions of others”. 

If you’d like to find out more about how to help combat homelessness in Durham, follow the links below.

DASH are always looking for more volunteers and support, so if you would like to find out more information about the organisation the link is here.

The ‘Heat for the Homeless’ project is also looking for more volunteers to distribute hot water bottles to the homeless, follow the link for their Facebook page here.