£90,000 raised by students for students

Over four weeks this autumn, a team of dedicated student callers, led by Eva Chow in the Development Office, and student supervisors Juvayriyah Ikram, Adam Mathia and Rosdip Rai, spoke to over 1,000 alumni across the UK.

This year, the team raised the record breaking total of just over £90,000! We were overwhelmed by the generosity of our alumni, who gave us 259 gifts, ranging from £5 to £2,000. All of these donations will go to the Kent Opportunity Fund.

In 2016, for the first time, we also called our alumni in the United States and spoke to 221 US alumni, based across 30 states; from New York to Albuquerque to Lake Oswego, and raised almost $7,000 from 53 individual gifts. These funds will go towards the UKA-Fulbright Scholarships.

Our alumni community is a huge asset to the University, and many of the student callers commented on the positive and inspiring conversations that they had enjoyed.
Student caller, Maria Burrell said: ‘I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk to real professionals, who have been through all the processes and experiences that are involved in the job market. I’ve definitely had some inspiration as to what career I’d like to have!’

The alumi also enjoyed the calls, with one commenting: ‘I had a delightful and delightfully long’ chat with Anamaria. She is a lovely, well-spoken young lady and a credit to Kent. I encouraged her to pursue her graduate studies there – strike while the iron is hot! Her news of the University was amazing – a long way from my day (1972-73)!’

The Kent Opportunity Fund was established to support Kent students; through scholarships, bursaries for financial hardship and grants to extra-curricular projects, and sports projects. To donate or support our fundraising, please contact the development office on giving@kent.ac.uk.

Picture shows: Laura Thomas-Walters, whose PhD is funded by the Kent Opportunity Fund. She is investigating how behavioural research can be better utilised for illegal wildlife trade demand reduction strategies.