A NEW FOUNDATION is aiming to raise £500,000 to provide
scholarships for disadvantaged Black British students to attend
leading UK universities.
The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation (CSF) - is the brainchild of
Professor Richard Oreffo (DPhil DSc (Oxon)) who is a Professor of
Musculoskeletal Science at University of Southampton and the
co-founder and Director of the Centre for Human Development Stem
Cells and Regeneration.
CSF’s mission is to fund 100 disadvantaged Black British students
through leading UK universities. The initial target is to raise
£500,000 to start funding the first tranche of students and then
continue to raise funds, eventually forming an ecosystem and,
eventually, finance scholarships through endowments.
Professor Oreffo explains: “I am a British-Nigerian who
benefitted from education at our leading universities and it has
made a significant difference to my life, but I know not everyone
is able to access education, and many potential talented Black
British students can be held back by lack of money.”
“This has driven my desire to make a positive difference for the
individuals the foundation will support and also to universities
on the whole by increasing diversity and inclusion.”
The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation will exist to help eligible
students attend a range of leading British universities,
regardless of what subject they decided to study.
The Foundation will administer the awards with an established
board and strict compliance with standard scholarship guidelines
(Eligibility Criteria ACORN 4 & 5, POLAR Q1 & 2
criteria). Applications will be made on-line with set selection
criteria. Final selection will be made by an advisory board.
The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation also aims to provide more than
just money and will offer mentorship, role models, and resilience
programmes for the students who benefit from scholarships to make
the most of the opportunity.
Although the initial goal is to raise £500,000 and, ultimately to
support 100 students, that is just the first part of what is
proposed to be a long term initiative and will address some of
the issues identified in a recent Russell Group Report.
Russell Group – From Summary - May Report 2020 “We recognise
progress in widening access and supporting student success needs
to continue and the rate of change needs to improve. The root
causes of under-representation are complex, and ambitious,
long-term efforts are needed across a range of agencies to
address these issues effectively – with universities playing a
key role alongside schools, employers, charities, local
authorities and Government”. The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation
seeks to address a key part of the jigsaw- the financial cost of
university education for disadvantaged Black British students.
Richard added: “We at the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation, want
this to be a long term initiative. The leading Universities are
trying to address many of the issues but of course so much more
needs to be done.”
“I am keen this is a positive agenda to level the field for
disadvantaged Black British students. We have a collective
responsibility to make a positive difference for the society we
want – this is about partnerships with leading universities
covering tuition fees and businesses/all of us living costs, to
allow education to transform lives!
“The bottom line- we must do better- we can do better- we can
make a difference –but we need help to raise the funds to do so
and we need people to donate!”
