IntoUniversity Celebration Event
Alumni and friends attended an event in March this year to celebrate the successful completion of our £300,000 IntoUniversity North Liverpool fundraising campaign, in collaboration with Liverpool Football Club Foundation.
The event held at Anfield stadium was an opportunity for the University to thank its donors whose generosity and support have contributed to making the project a success, as well as hear from students from the IntoUniversity North Liverpool centre and learn first-hand the impact donations have had on creating educational opportunities for those children.
The IntoUniversity North Liverpool centre is a collaboration between educational charity IntoUniversity, the University of Liverpool and the LFC Foundation, and was set up to help young people in Anfield aspire to do better at school and believe in their ability to get to university. In parts of North Liverpool where the centre operates, the higher education progression rate is as low as 17.5%, less than half the national average (37%).
The project partners with a selection of primary and secondary schools in the Anfield area, supporting students aged 7 to 18, by providing after-school help with homework and one-to-one mentoring opportunities with University of Liverpool students, as well as delivering workshops on careers and university life. One of the centre’s mentors Lady Tetley was herself a previous IntoUniversity student.
In 2019, 1336 students took part in the programme and since the centre was launched in 2018, 60 students have progressed into higher education.
Professor Fiona Beveridge, Executive Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and a former trustee on the Board at the LFC Foundation, described the commitment the University and Foundation share in helping young people:
“We believe that every child should be supported to reach their full potential including support to prepare for and to access university if that’s right for them. IntoUniversity inspires young people while they’re still in school to dream big dreams and to work hard. But more importantly it also provides practical support and help particularly to those young people who are less able to access that support at school or at home.”
Molly, a student from Notre Dame Catholic College, who has attended the Centre for the past two years, described how the programme has helped her studies:
“Without realising, academic support has pushed me to do lots of work that I have benefited from. While coming to academic support I have gained many new friends and memories, and have gained more confidence. Going to academic support has opened my eyes to opportunities and I’ve been given advice for the future that has helped me so much.”
The IntoUniversity fundraising programme, forms part of the University’s long-term commitment of widening participation and ensuring access to global education for all students. Professor Gavin Brown, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education said:
“While the reasons for social disadvantage and deprivation are always multiple and complex, at the heart of the solutions you will invariably find people with the passion and goodwill to improve lives. At the University we remain absolutely committed to providing higher education and improving life chances in all of our local communities.”
Launching the Development and Alumni team’s new fundraising initiative ‘Passports to Possibilities’ Professor Brown described “the transformative opportunity” this programme will have in enabling students who might otherwise be denied due to financial or social barriers, the chance to access summer study abroad.
The event marked the culmination of a successful partnership between the University of Liverpool, IntoUniversity and LFC Foundation. The Foundation's vice-chairman and LFC Chief Executive Peter Moore spoke of the “great pride” the Club takes in supporting such programmes. Rounding off a great evening, guests also had the opportunity to meet Liverpool legend and all-time leading goal scorer Ian Rush and have their photo taken with the UEFA European Cup.
For more information about IntoUniversity North, see their site here.
For more information about our new Passports to Possibilities fundraising priority please visit our dedicated page here.
To see more images from the event visit our Flickr page here.