Isolating students hoist Deliveroo through 5th floor window with dressing gown cords

They tied the dressing gowns to a shopping bag and lowered it down


A group of Newcastle students isolating in their fifth floor halls flat created a pulley system with a shopping bag and selection of dressing gown cords to collect a pizza from their Deliveroo driver.

The students of Rosedale Court in Newcastle went to extreme measures to secure their takeaway because, unlike people isolating in houses who are able to access deliveries from their front door, residents in halls are not.

In these halls, deliveries have to be dropped off at reception for staff to take up. However, the staff of Rosedale Court have said they are not taking takeaways to individual flats, as they would be rapidly overwhelmed with demand.

Nevertheless, takeaways are a staple of the student diet (alongside crisps, ketchup, and 1.5-litre bottles of Lambrini), and for some students, these restrictions are seen as more of a challenge to be overcome than a restriction. 

Such was the case for one flat in Portland Green’s Rosedale Court, who took it upon themselves to find a way around this problem and provide a spectacle to other residents too. 

According to one of the Newcastle student masterminds behind the operation, it went a little something like this:

“7.46pm, we place an order into Pizza Express Jesmond for a 14 inch Romano Base Margherita – vegan cheese – extra tomato.

“8.01pm, Deliveroo driver arrives promptly at Rosedale Court equipped with a pizza and no viable way to deliver it. A plan was needed ASAP to avoid the heartbreaking fate of an undelivered pizza placed on the floor for the world to see.

“Like a scene from a GCSE performance of Rapunzel, a scheme was devised to lower a rope and bag from the 5th floor to the ground with anything made available. Tote bags, belts, boxing hand wraps, towels – whatever was necessary to make the rope – and a bottle of hooch to weigh the bag down.”

POV you’re a Deliveroo driver and see this wyd

They continued: “By 8.03pm, the rope is complete. With support from a flat in the adjacent Bryson Court, the rope is cast down. A little to the left, a little to the right. The bottle of Hooch descends past the windows of flats below like a dancer on a pole. It is unclear how much the Deliveroo driver understood the situation, but he was not deterred. Who is to say what scenes he has witnessed in the line of duty. 

“At 8.04pm, the bag reaches the ground and a single pizza box is placed within. The pizza box is secured: mission successful.” 

Witnesses were reportedly stunned and emotional by the events. A video of the end of the operation can be seen on The Newcastle Tab Instagram story.

One source told The Newcastle Tab: “It was the most exciting thing to happen [in isolation]”. It goes without saying that the creativity of the situation can only be rivaled by the creativity of some of the Post-It note decorations dressing the windows of Portland Green. 

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