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Swansea University’s Money@CampusLife team have been awarded a Stand Alone Pledge award for their role in helping estranged students during Covid-19.
Staff set up fundraising activities that provided bespoke and tailored support and financial aid to students who were hard hit during the pandemic. The ‘Graduate Support Package’ included financial and employability advice for graduating estranged students and care leavers, helping ensure that students felt supported during a very uncertain time, while our bursaries offered them a sense of financial security.
The awards were announced during Estranged Student Solidarity Week which aims to raise awareness of estranged students nationally. New data published this week by the Office for Students highlights equality gaps for estranged students across all levels of higher education, including access, retention, and attainment. Students who are estranged from their families are less likely to achieve a first or a 2:1 degree classification and are more likely to drop out of university during their first year of study. This is in addition to the recent pressures facing all students that has been brought about by Covid-19.
Stand Alone Pledge was set up to ensure that students who are estranged from their families, who are studying without the support or approval of a family network, are not held back from succeeding in higher education.
Alison Maguire, Money@CampusLife manager said: “We're extremely pleased and proud that our work to support estranged students has been recognised in this way. That the recognition comes from an organisation whose commitment and values are evident in the excellent work undertaken in so many different arenas makes it particularly gratifying.”