The scholarship super fund
Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:26:00 GMT
AN innovative scheme to raise cash for scholarships to University of Huddersfield students has proved to be TEN TIMES more successful than originally planned.
The University’s Student Scholarship Fund, instigated by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan (pictured), now stands at more than £1 million. The original goal was £100,000.
A delighted Prof Cryan – who pledged £10,000 of his own money to the fund – says that he has been overwhelmed by the response to his scheme.
The Student Scholarship Fund was launched in July. Professor Cryan had devised a method of ensuring that every donation of £1 to the fund was transformed into a gift of £10, using a combination of the tax advantages gained from making donations through the system known as Gift Aid, and using two matched-funding schemes.
When a £1 donation was made, Professor Cryan personally matched it, making £2. Gift Aid turned this to £2.50 and the Higher Education Funding Council for England matched this, so £1 had grown to £5. This sum then attracted matching funding from the Government’s National Scholarship Programme – making £10.
The original goal was to build up a fund of over £100,000, meaning that Professor Cryan’s personal contribution – matching those made by other donors – would be £10,000.
But the response to the appeal was so enthusiastic that the Vice-Chancellor’s pot of £10,000 was quickly emptied. At this point, local entrepreneur and philanthropist Graham Leslie – the founder of Galpharm – stepped in.
“Thanks to his amazing generosity, we were able to keep the scheme open, as Graham agreed to continue to personally match any further donations,” said Professor Cryan.
“During graduation ceremonies, our Students’ Union worked extremely hard to raise further funds and Kirklees Council also agreed to support the fund. As a result, the Student Scholarship Fund now stands at more than £1m.”
The cash will be used to provide scholarships and bursaries to University of Huddersfield students from disadvantaged backgrounds who might otherwise be deterred by the new fees that come into play from 2012 – despite the fact that the University has declared that it will not seek to profit from students and is levying one of the country’s fairest fees, at £7,950.
“I would like to thank everyone who donated money to the Fund. I was overwhelmed by their response,” said Professor Cryan.
“ This has demonstrated what a great sense of pride we all have in our university, and I believe it also shows that we are determined to continue to offer a top-class education to all who can benefit, no matter what challenges the new higher education landscape throws at us,” he said.
