World Kindness Day: How our alumni community are stepping up for the next generation of Newcastle graduates
This World Kindness Day, we’d like to celebrate the kindness and generosity of spirit shown by our global alumni community in supporting current students at Newcastle University to thrive.
13 November 2023
This World Kindness Day, we’d like to celebrate the kindness and generosity of spirit shown by our global alumni community in supporting current students at Newcastle University to thrive.
Over the past year, countless graduates of Newcastle University have helped students in hardship, opened doors to university for those from disadvantaged backgrounds or who are fleeing war and political unrest, and allowed our students to realise their potential.
Over 500 alumni have volunteered to support the student community in the past year, and countless others have donated to support various student causes. The kindness shown by alumni has ensured that university is a formative experience, where students can enjoy and embrace all the opportunities on offer to them (and those that graduates themselves remember so fondly!).
Your kindness is giving students the best university experience possible
Our alumni have great memories of their time at Newcastle: not only the experiences in the classroom, but in Halls, with sports clubs and societies in the SU and with new friends across the city.
Graduates are adding value to students’ university experience in many ways. Alumni networks support student societies and sports clubs so they can offer opportunities to as many students as possible and they can learn from alumni experience; graduates return to campus to give guest lectures at their former Schools, inspiring the next generation of graduates and showcasing what is possible after life at Newcastle; and they also fund Participation bursaries so students from disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented groups can make the most of activities, clubs and sports on offer without the financial burden.
Because of you, Newcastle University can continue to offer a welcoming and stimulating environment in which our students can thrive and succeed. Thank you!
This year, alumni donations to the Newcastle Student Fund has provided more than 445 Participation Bursaries to empower students to make the most of their time at Newcastle and forge new friendships and experiences. 91% of bursary recipients said this financial support improved their health and wellbeing.
Alumni donations have also enabled the University’s Wheelchair Basketball Club to purchase seven new sports wheelchairs so more people could get involved in the club during its inaugural season with the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) League, in which they finished third!
Your kindness is making higher education more accessible to all
With a cost-of-living crisis affecting families across the UK, and the price of higher education at an all-time high, many students from low-income households feel priced out of learning and see university life as an experience that isn’t for them. For example, in some areas of Newcastle, only 12% of students progress to university.
Alumni volunteers are helping to show that Newcastle University is for all, sharing their own memories of university life and the way they overcame barriers facing potential students today at student recruitment events and Offer Holder days around the globe.
“I volunteer at student recruitment events and talk to prospective students from the North East, and particularly, from low-income or disadvantaged backgrounds, similar to my own. I share with them my own journey and tell them about my background to encourage them to believe that they can also achieve their goals of going to university.
“I know how hard it can be to improve your life when you’re from a working-class background. You don’t have those connections or role models to look to. You’ve got to forge your own path. If I can help in a small way to offer the opportunities I’ve benefited from, I want to do that.”
Scott Walton (BSc Computing Science, 2011)
In partnership with national charity IntoUniversity and Northumbria University, and with alumni support, Newcastle University has worked with 900 local school pupils this year - from primary school through to sixth form - supporting raised attainment, tackling educational inequalities, and improving progression to university and positive student outcomes.
Pupils are matched with a mentor from our university student community, offering a positive role model and the opportunity to develop social skills and explore future options. This is just one way the IntoUniversity partnership is making a difference locally. In the last year, 67% of IntoUniversity Newcastle East leavers gained a place at university - versus the 12% local average.
Alumni are also opening doors to university for students around the world facing extreme hardship in war and conflict. Donations to the Newcastle Student Fund provide Sanctuary Scholarships to students from asylum-seeker and refugee backgrounds to study at Newcastle University, covering their full tuition cost and a bursary for living expenses.
This year, 11 students were supported with a Sanctuary Scholarship across all three faculties. In addition, donations provided IT equipment to help Sanctuary Scholars make the most of their degree programmes.
“As an asylum seeker, I was only able to access higher education with the help of the generous Sanctuary Scholarship, and this is something which has impacted my life very positively.
"My past academic year at Newcastle University has been one in which I have made many pleasant memories and experienced many exciting things - despite facing hardships in my personal life.”
Marwa, undergraduate Law student
Your kindness is providing a safety net when students need it most
It’s not just potential students that have been affected by the cost-of-living crisis. Most students aren’t entitled to government support, and with student staples like eggs and cheese rising in price by over 30% in the past year, more and more of our students have faced challenging times.
1 in 4 students regularly go without food and other necessities because they cannot afford them, rising to over 3 in 10 for students from the most socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.
In the past year, alumni have generously raised over £160,000 to provide a safety net for those most vulnerable. Their kindness has stocked a food pantry in our Students’ Union and provided discounted hot and healthy meals on campus, ensured free period products are available across campus, as well as funding emergency accommodation for those at risk of homelessness. Last academic year, 1,300 students benefitted from the discounted hot meal programme each month.
Who better understands the career prospects of Newcastle students than former Newcastle students? In the past year, alumni have volunteered as career mentors for students (and other alumni in our NCL in Action programme!), offered internships and work experience at their companies, and travelled back to campus to share their career journeys to inspire current students. For example, we welcomed Ross Millard from the band The Futureheads (pictured) to campus in March to discover how he launched a successful career in the music industry, and many female engineers and scientists from our alumni community for the annual Women In Science showcase.
It's not just their experience and time that alumni have been kind enough to offer, but they’ve also supported students’ career prospects financially. Bursaries made available through our award-winning Careers Service, and funded by alumni donations, ensure any student offered an interview or work placement can attend – no matter their financial means.
As well as supporting students to access opportunities and internships across the North East, alumni donations have also enabled the University’s International Office to offer a range of global internship opportunities in the past year. An international work placement can increase the chances of employability by up to 24%, but students from under-represented groups can struggle to access these opportunities.
“My internship no doubt formed an essential part of later job applications. It provided me with a unique experience to discuss with employers, alongside the development of professional skills which are required in the workplace. I believe it made my application stand out from others.”
Cam, undergraduate Politics student who interned in Georgia, USA
Thank you
This World Kindness Day, we’d like to express our heartfelt thanks to our alumni community for the unwavering support and generosity they show to students. Thank you for supporting the next generation of Newcastle graduates.
How you can help Newcastle students today
Alumni and donors to Newcastle University can double the difference they make when supporting students struggling with the rising cost of living this winter, with £50,000 of match-funding pledged by the Newcastle University Development Trust for all donations made between 6 November – 6 January.