A growing community of alumni and other supporters have made incredible things happen at BU this year by volunteering, donating money and sponsoring activities.
BU’s Fundraising & Alumni Relations Team estimates that more than 150 graduates have given more than 350 hours to support staff and students in 2023-24. Volunteering activities include delivering guest talks that prepare students for their future careers, contributing to advisory panels to ensure courses meet industry needs and sharing stories to inspire new students.
At the same time a range of funders – from graduates and other individuals to companies and grant-making trusts – have helped to alleviate student hardship and supported ground-breaking research with donations and pledges totalling £673,497. This includes:
- £162,500 to support a pioneering project to increase the speed of detection of skin cancers.
- £122,694 to raise timbers and artefacts from a medieval shipwreck and provide student archaeologists with opportunities to train on a live wreck.
- £114,150 to provide new studentships – a combination of bursaries, scholarships and hardship grants, including funding for estranged students and those from under-represented groups.
- £50,000 worth of funding distributed to students and graduates thanks to our partnership with Santander Universities UK.
Claire House-Norman, Director of Fundraising & Alumni Relations, said: “We are privileged to work with so many people who give their time and money to support BU’s students and staff. This support enables us to do so much more; it can mean the difference between a student under financial pressure dropping out or completing their degree, or it can be the incentive required for someone from a low-income household to embark on university study in the first place.
“We are equally grateful to all those who have given their time to share their career stories or to meet with students this year, from alumni now running their own businesses to senior executives in the travel and media industries. These interactions inspire those at the start of their career journeys and can help in building important networks as they near the end of their studies. We always say thank you to our supporters, but it’s amazing to see and to celebrate how each individual contribution joins together to make an even bigger impact over the course of an academic year.”
