GivingTuesday 2020 Student Hardship Appeal

While the plans for a telephone campaign were on hold due to the COVID 19 pandemic, we knew it was still very important to stay in touch with you, our alumni community, and we kept you updated throughout 2020. We took part in #GivingTuesday Campaign for students in hardship and raised over £50,000.

We took part in #GivingTuesday on 1 December 2020 to raise vital funds to help students avoid financial hardship during a time of unpredictability and uncertainty. If you are a supporter of the telethon, and  supported our students, thank you.

Supporting students

The Covid-19 crisis turned many lives upside down, including those of our students. 

In 2020, we saw over 4,000 applications to our student hardship fund – nearly four times the volume of applicants we would usually expect.

To date we’ve been able to help just over 3,000 students and we are committed to continuing some level of support to those who need it most.

You partnered with us in offering students support as part of our #GivingTuesday fundraising campaign.

With your support we made sure sufficient emergency funds are available for those students and recent graduates most in need for as long as we all grapple with this pandemic. Your support helped students from all areas, but particularly those from families and communities hardest hit by Covid-19. We ensured that your gift was matched to students who don’t qualify for other sources of funding or who need additional support.

The average emergency grant was £500, but grants vary based on the circumstances of each student.  Grants provide vital support to cover costs, such as:

• basic living costs and essential bills during the next academic term for students, who have lost summer jobs ,
• short-term emergency accommodation needs,
• essential broadband costs and other IT needs.

#GivingTuesday, 1 December 2020

#GivingTuesday is a global day of kindness, which aims to empower positive change, through generosity. It was an opportunity for our alumni and friends around the world to use their individual power of generosity to support the University of Edinburgh. Everyone had something to give, and every act of generosity was counted. 

You can still donate today

Each year, we have 1,000 students experience extreme hardship. Please give what you can via our donation links, thank you.

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