The Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented challenge to our way of life. From the simple inconvenience of having to queue outside the supermarket, to the major upheaval of separated families, unfamiliar working practices – and worries about financial security and employment – the crisis is affecting all of us. Which is to say nothing of people’s very real fears of serious illness.

The University has done a great deal to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 on our students, but know that many of them may face significant financial hardship in the coming months. 

We have already provided many bursaries to help students address their particular needs. But faced with growing demand, and the prospect of continued disruption to our lives over the coming months, we need your help.

so, please give today to help support a student at this uncertain time...

Your support for the 2020 Student Support Fund will help students to overcome the immediate barriers thrown up as a consequence of the pandemic, and succeed in their studies. You will:

• Help to cover urgent and immediate financial needs which have arisen through the crisis;
• Enable students to study from home while isolated from peer groups, support networks and University facilities;
• Support the most vulnerable among our student body, such as care leavers, single parents, those estranged from their families and those facing homelessness.

Though the long-term impacts of the pandemic are difficult to predict, we anticipate that as we move through the year, other specific needs may arise. You will also help us to meet these particular needs including; 

• Support for estranged students and care leavers in their final year, where they already face a reduced student loan alongside the possibility of temporary unemployment after graduation;
• Assistance to those unable to gain short-term employment while studying, particularly those with no family support or home to fall back on.

‘Although the final semester of university has proven to be a difficult one, with the disruption of lectures and library closures as a result of coronavirus, I have found that your generosity has allowed me to remain in good mental health about my education and future.’ - Hayley Raybould, 4th year Classical Civilisation and English Student

how will my donation be supporting students?

Open to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, your gift to the 2020 Student Support Fund will help provide grants to help students overcome their individual challenges. 

Your gift – however large or small – will help to tackle the immediate needs of students facing a crisis in their lives. For example... 

• £25 will provide a student with the essential stationery for their work;
• £40 could allow a student to buy a textbook crucial to their studies;
• £45 will purchase three months’ WiFi giving students access to online resources;
• £82 will cover the essential living costs of a student for a week;
• £115 will typically cover one week’s accommodation;
• £600 will fund the purchase of a laptop computer.

and thanks to the generous support of a Leeds alumnus, who has offered to match all gifts* to the fund for a limited period, your support will have double the impact. 

This means that your gift – however large or small – will go twice as far. Along with donations from fellow alumni and other University supporters, it will help us to ensure that more of our deserving students are helped to meet the extraordinary challenges of Covid-19. 

Thank you for your support

* To ensure that we are able to match fund as many gifts as possible, match funding will be applied to gifts up to £3,000. If you are considering making a gift of this amount or more, please contact Amy Upton, Development Officer, on a.v.upton@leeds.ac.uk or (+44)113 343 0601/ (+44)7702 946342.

If you live in the United States of America, please visit our North American Foundation for the University of Leeds 2020 Student Support Fund page to make your gift to NAFUL.

Keep in touch with the University of Leeds... 

Please follow the progress of this fundraising on the Leeds alumni Facebook page, on Twitter and on Leeds Alumni Online. You can also connect with the University of Leeds, through our Linkedin page.