How Your Philanthropy is Helping to Shape us for the Future
The donations you make, both large and small, make a vital difference to the life and work of the University. You make life-changing opportunities possible for generations of students and bring strategic ambitions to life.
Thanks to you, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds or those under-represented in higher education can realise their dream of a Durham education. You provide the fuel for research that improves the lives of our communities and expands intellectual inquiry and understanding. And your gifts enable us to both preserve our heritage sites and introduce facilities fit for changing times.
Your generosity is truly inspiring and we all share a deep sense of gratitude. This is particularly true of those who benefit directly, like Giammarco Di-Gregorio, a Trevelyan Scholar and an awardee of the Laidlaw Leadership and Research Programme.
Donor Appreciation Day 2021
The third Donor Appreciation Day event was on Tuesday 23 November via Zoom. This exclusive event for those who have donated continuously for five years or more, was joined this year by Jeremy Cook OBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Colleges and Wellbeing; Julie Pullman, Durham’s Scholarships, PG Loans and Federal Aid Manager; and by Giammarco, sharing something of his personal journey to Durham, and how philanthropy made it possible.
Giammarco spent five years of his childhood in the care system and made his own way to higher education. Now a third year Psychology student and member of Trevelyan College, he has ambitions for a research career in neurobiology.
In his spare time, he founded Towards My Future to promote policy change within Universities so care-leavers and students estranged from their families receive better support at this crucial juncture in their young lives. He also set up the award winning ‘Learn With Us Summer Camp,*’ a student-led initiative in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, that provided online educational videos to children who would otherwise not have had access to learning activities. *Durham University Best Educational Volunteering Project 2021.
We Can't Thank You Enough
Our wonderful University benefits immeasurably from the support of our alumni. Indeed, generosity has been making the difference at Durham from our ealiest days within a small cluster of UK universities to today as we face new challenges and exciting opportunities in the global higher education arena. Our aim is to keep pushing further at the leading edge of research, academic teaching, and student experience, and our inspiration is the enduring affection, allegiance and support of our alumni. Thank you.