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Student Hardship Fund doubled by alumni support
By: Emma Wigmore
Last updated: Tuesday, 6 February 2024
Generosity and kindness from our community have helped our students at a time when many are struggling. Through donations to the Sussex Fund, we have been able to support students across all schools, levels and disciplines who find themselves experiencing financial difficulties, particularly those who have caring responsibilities, are estranged from their families or are from a lower-income background.
In the 2022-23 academic year, thanks to your generosity we were able to double our Student Hardship Fund, helping 824 students who found themselves experiencing genuine and unavoidable financial difficulties.
It is a sad truth that financial strain causes many students to consider dropping out of university and it is not uncommon for them to regularly go without food and other essentials. It’s not just that students can’t go out and get coffee or socialise, this is a very real level of poverty.
Many report that financial difficulties have negatively affected their academic performance, reporting that having to take on additional paid work to cover costs has left them without enough time to focus on their studies. Concentration issues caused by poor diet, stress and skipping lectures through not being able to afford travel fares are also compounding factors.
Your donations really do make a difference to those who are most in need, as evidenced in the testimonies of our hardship award recipients. One student said:
“This award will enable me to continue my studies without undue stress and worry. The past few months have been challenging, and this award provides a much-needed boost to my morale and motivation to keep striving for academic excellence.”
Another commented:
“My award will help me overcome my current financial difficulties, ease my anxiety and focus on my studies. I will do my best to repay your kindness through my future academic achievements and personal growth.”
Sussex is committed to being here for all our students and you are helping us to do exactly that. Beyond hardship awards we have also put in place other initiatives, including additional payments for recipients of the Sussex Bursary (those with a household income below £25,000); subsidised healthy hot meals for only £2; and access to financial advice and services through a partnership with personal finance tool ‘BlackBullion’. Every pound that you give really does count.