As the first year of our Gold Scholarship Programme comes to a close. We marked the occasion with a celebration dinner for our scholars, donors and alumni mentors on Friday 27 April 2018.
Gold Scholarships offer more than financial support; they provide students with opportunities for personal development through volunteering and mentoring. This event gave scholars a chance to practice the networking skills they have been developing over the past year.
Among the speakers on the night, we heard from alumna and long-term donor Sharon Flood: “What’s wonderful [about Gold Scholarships] is that it brings together the very best of Bath. You have alumni who are mentors, alumni who are donors, staff who support the programme through their work. Staff who are donors, and of course, the students.”
Alumna and long-term donor Sharon Flood talked about why she supports Gold Scholarships
Sharon and her husband, alumnus Jon Lee, generously support Computer Science student Hannah Khan through a Gold Scholarship. Hannah recently spoke to the BBC about her experience as a student with autism.
“We’re very proud of Hannah for talking about some of the challenges she’s faced;” said Sharon. “She’s a real credit to the programme and the University.”
The evening concluded with Professor Bernie Morley, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at the University, in conversation with PhD student Dom Parsons, winner of the Men’s Skeleton bronze medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Olympic medalist and PhD student Dom Parsons attended the event, held at the Apex City of Bath Hotel
Dom knows first-hand the impact donors have made, as he was; supported by a Santander scholarship during his undergraduate degree at Bath. He said: “Winning an Olympic medal was a dream I’d been working towards for over ten years.
Every bit of support I received in that time was crucial, and the Santander Scholarship funded the development of essential equipment that helped my performance at the Games.
Dom Parsons, PhD Mechanical Engineering student and Olympic medalist
Golden facts and figures:
All 50 Gold Scholars who enrolled at the start of the academic year are still on track for their course.
There has been a 95% attendance rate across the 7 core programme events so far.
This includes training sessions on how to develop networking skills; studying or working overseas, establishing good communication and managing exams and finances. They have also attended a team-bonding Away Day in London, where they competed in teams to complete a treasure hunt across the city.
By the end of March, scholars had completed over 1,500 hours of volunteering, fundraising and outreach.
Scholars are involved in a number of exciting projects this summer, including volunteering in India, Sri Lanka and Zambia, a computer science conference in Germany and placements with TSB.
To find out more about scholarships please contact Stephanie Lear, Head of Individual Philanthropy within the Department of Development & Alumni Relations, at S.Lear@bath.ac.uk.
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