FUNDRASING has begun at Worcester University to help students make ands meet while also marking two important milestones.
As part of a two-year-long Anniversaries Campaign, celebrating 20 years since gaining full university status in 2005 and 80 years since being founded as an emergency teacher training college in 1946 – the university is aiming to raise funds to help students through their studies.
Vice chancellor and chief executive, Prof David Green, said: “We’ve got a lot of students at Worcester who are full of ability, and determination to get that job, to get that qualification, to make a contribution to society.
“Because of cost-of-living pressures and the spike in inflation, there are students studying full time and working 20 hours a week, sometimes more, and they’re still finding it difficult to make ends meet.
“There are also students who can’t work alongside their studies, sometimes because of a disability, or because they have caring responsibilities for their parents, their children, or siblings. Many, many of our students still face the same problems that the rest of society faces.”
The university already gives many scholarships and prizes to students which are funded through generous donations by philanthropists, the university’s distinguished Honorary Fellows and local employers. Increasingly, successful graduates of the university are also helping.
Now staff are pulling together to further boost funds to help even more students.
Central to the activities is the Charity Challenge; involving walking overnight, paddling for miles along the River Severn, pulling a tractor and many other challenges in an action packed 24 hours. Staff will also run car washes, bake and craft sales and quizzes.
As part of the fundraising efforts, the vice chancellor will also devote two weeks of his summer holiday to walking 280km along the coastal Camino Portugues, the historic pilgrim’s path from Porto in Portugal to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Visit www.justgiving.com/page/professor-david-green-compostela-challenge to donate.
