Schoolgirls are making life-saving sleeping bags out of crisp packets to help rough sleepers this winter, inspired by a charity volunteer.

Students at Beaconsfield High School have been working with Survival Streets UK volunteers and an arts and crafts business owner to bring the Crisp Packet Project to the school.

Speaking about the project, head girl Sahar Mulji said: “Volunteering at Sufra NW London Foodbank in Brent, I became increasingly aware of the continued struggles faced by those forced to bed down on the streets.

“Many of our foodbank guests often possess a mere blanket, or a very thin, worn-down sleeping-bag. As a result, in cold weather, the risk of pneumonia and hypothermia is increased, and deaths due to freezing are not uncommon.

“This lack of shelter, coupled with food and income insecurity, means it is extremely difficult for rough sleepers to get back on their feet. As a food bank, we are constantly running out of supplies to keep our less fortunate community warmer.”

Miss Mulji said she was inspired by homeless charity volunteer and arts and crafts business owner Pen Huston, who made headlines after creating sleeping bags from hundreds of crisp packets to give to people sleeping on the streets last winter.

Speaking about how Ms Huston came up with the idea, Miss Mulji said: “The idea came to her one night as she visualised what it would be like to wake up in a giant crisp packet.

“The next day she began to fuse 150 empty crisp packets to a recycled sheet of plastic with a hot iron to create the ‘bivvy bag’ - an insulating sleeping bag cover.

“She now also makes ‘survival sheets’ from 44 crisp packets, which can be used as blankets, ground-sheets, and much more. Upon reading about Pen’s work on Facebook, I decided to get in touch.”

Miss Mulji, along with two other students, attended one of her workshops, making one bivvy bag and two survival sheets in three hours.

She added: “Pen explained how the foil inside the crisp packet was perfect for insulation, as it prevented the radiation of body heat by reflecting it back at the source, and that as a result, these sleeping bags could potentially save lives, especially during the winter months.

“As students, we love to snack and there is nothing tastier than a bag of crisps, popcorn or lentil chips.

“That’s why, with the help of £200 funding from Faiths Forum for London, we are launching the Crisp Packet Project at Beaconsfield High School.

“We are asking both students and staff to collect as many empty crisp packets as they can, wash them with soap and water, store them at home in a box with their name on it and bring their washed crisp packets into school – when it is COVID-safe to do so – to be sent off to Pen, who will get busy ironing them together.

“In the meantime – with the help of Pen’s tutorial videos, and a few Q&A workshops run by myself, Abbie and Flora – some [of the other] students have decided to get stuck in, and use the crisp packets they’ve already collected to make insulating survival sheets and bivvy bags at home.”

The students have teamed up with Hand on Heart, a homelessness volunteer group which hopes to include the life-saving blankets produced by students in its winter warmer packs to be distributed to hundreds of rough sleepers in London.

But the pupils do not just want the project to be “confined” to their school – they are hoping to introduce the campaign to schools and organisations throughout Beaconsfield and across Bucks.

Miss Mulji said: “It is truly heartbreaking that in the sixth biggest economy in the world, we have to resort to making insulating sleeping bags out of crisp packets.

“Yet, if this is what will make life a little more bearable for those on the streets, then it is incumbent on all of us to do our bit.

“This is all about making something out of nothing.

“Every year, one in four homeless people will spend Christmas alone. At the very minimum, they shouldn’t be cold as well.”

To get involved, email muljs001@beaconsfieldhigh.bucks.sch.uk.