Posted Thursday 9 June 2022
Over 3,500 of our alumni picked up their phones this Spring to chat with students on our Inspire the Future Campaign. If you were one of them - thank you! Our team of thirty students studying subjects from pharmacy, forensic science, law to media studies have been reaching out to our alumni to share news about Kingston University, gain advice and seek support for our students.
For the first time a group of significant donors came together and offered to match the first £12,000 of alumni donations to help encourage more alumni to give and support students through the current cost of living crisis. In just 8 weeks, alumni gave a staggering £78, 255 from 265 donations, 100% of which will support students directly, whether that be through our emergency Hardship Fund, our support for estranged and care leaver students through the KU Cares programme or other projects across the university. Thank you!
Yousra, a pharmacy student who came back to work on her second campaign, was really struck by the generosity of our alumni. She said "The fact that despite prices and costs going up across the country, our alumni are still willing to give. It is incredibly thoughtful as they know students are also going through during these tough times".
The University's KU Cares scheme has been widely praised and celebrated its 15 year anniversary in 2021. KU Cares provides support for care leavers, students estranged from their families and young carers – through financial assistance, access to year-round accommodation, specialist work placement opportunities, and a dedicated team to support students pastorally too.
Shekira, an adult nursing student and part of KU Cares, mentions how "Kingston was one of the few universities to offer such a supportive package for care leavers and I don't think I would have gone to university if it wasn't for Kingston's KU Cares fund.
I think the year-round accommodation is one of the best aspects of the support given. I am now in my second year of adult nursing and loving it!” It is wonderful when our alumni choose to give back to current students and it makes an enormous difference. If this has inspired you to join other alumni and support even more students, please click here.
Thank you to all those that supported our students through the Inspire the Future campaign. We appreciate your valuable time answering our student callers. Jessica, a Media and Communications student, told us that "Speaking to alumni and hearing what they have gone on to do is so beneficial. Studying media is a very broad subject, which means I am overwhelmed with potential career paths, but hearing from alumni about how they have developed in their fields and the many post-graduate opportunities have been really helpful."
We will be running the campaign again in autumn 2022. If you would like to support our students, please get in touch and we will match you with one of our student callers for a chat!
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