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Making an impact on Regent’s Park College: Update from the Development and Alumni Relations Team
Making an impact
on Regent’s Park College
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With every member of our community affected by the ongoing pandemic, our commitment to providing teaching and learning experiences that are attentive to each student’s needs has been especially important this year.
We are proud and grateful that it is friends and alumni of the College who make so much of what we can provide possible. You know what the College experience can be in better times, so to have your support means a lot for today’s students. Covid restrictions have resulted in keenly felt restraints on the College and its finances, and we need the support of alumni and friends more than ever.
Enabling in-depth study
The ability to study at Oxford should not depend on a student’s personal financial means. With our diverse community of graduate students who enjoy being part of a small academic community within a large university, increasing the availability of financial support for postgraduates is a priority for us. Valquirya Borba, the current holder of the Pamela Sue Anderson Postgraduate Scholarship, and Afia Chaudry, who has joined Regent’s thanks to the Aziz Foundation Scholarship, speak of what this support has meant for them: ‘Receiving the institutional scholarship from Aziz Foundation and Regent’s Park College means a lot to me because of the aims of the granting body, and also my position as a British Muslim classroom teacher. Through this award I am able to actualise a research which reflects not only my own experiences of history education in Britain, but also that of my students. I am very fortunate to have been given this opportunity as it will allow me to carry out doctoral research without financial burden, so that I can exercise all my efforts into interrogating the experiences of British Muslims in history classrooms’.
Afia Chaudhry (DPhil Education)
‘The financial support from the Pamela Sue Anderson Scholarship is what allowed me to take my place in the BPhil Philosophy course at Oxford, and I am hugely grateful to Professor Anderson’s family for this opportunity. In my studies, I was also inspired by Professor Anderson’s work on feminist criticism, and have been working on feminist history of philosophy, an area I might not have come across if it weren’t for my connection to her legacy’.
Valquirya Borba (BPhil Philosophy)
Centre: Commemorative plaque showing the two shields of Greyfriars and Regent's linked with a cord
The new Greyfriars Scholarship is launched
Finances often form an insurmountable barrier to young people who wish to pursue further studies after their first degree; in fact, the most frequent reason given by graduate offer-holders who turn down their Oxford place is lack of funds. Scholarship schemes can be limited and highly competitive. We are therefore absolutely delighted that this year we have launched a new scholarship for the study of humanities at postgraduate level, The Greyfriars Postgraduate Scholarship.
This project to honour Greyfriars Hall came to fruition entirely through the vision and generous donations from members of the Greyfriars alumni community, who became part of the Regent’s alumni community when Greyfriars closed in 2008. In keeping with the ethos and historic commitment of the Greyfriars to the poorest in society, the Scholarship takes into account both academic merit and financial circumstances that would make undertaking postgraduate study difficult or impossible.
We are indebted to those Greyfriars alumni who have been involved in this project.
A significant portion of the funding for the Scholarship comes from the Jaspar Foundation, the charitable arm of the family-run property company Jaspar Group whose CEO is Greyfriars alumnus Anup Pankhania (Geography, 2002). Set up by founder Raj Pankhania, the Foundation believes that the power of prosperity comes from harnessing the best from people of all walks of life. With a vision to reduce hardship, improve wellbeing and enhance life opportunities for all, locally and beyond, the Foundation aims to support programmes across education, healthcare, homelessness, elderly & disabled, water & sanitation and emergency relief.
‘As education is very close to our hearts, we have a vision to ensure children and adults are offered a chance to achieve their potential in schools and universities here and abroad. Having been an active charity for the past 12 years, Jaspar Foundation is passionate about commitment to further and higher education. The Pankhania family are excited about this opportunity and have decided to pledge a long-term donation towards the Greyfriars Scholarship for the next 5 years. Jaspar Foundation are proud to help in this capacity, feel honoured to be affiliated to the University of Oxford and wish the worthy candidate all the best in their studies at Regent’s Park College, Oxford’. Anup Pankhania, on behalf of Jaspar Foundation.
Both the Pamela Sue Anderson Studentship and the Greyfriars Postgraduate Scholarship funds remain open to donations. If you would like to donate, contact development@regents.ox.ac.uk.
‘I think of my time at Greyfriars fondly and with gratitude. Perhaps I did not know it then, but it guided me towards understanding the importance of change but also of supporting belief. It was thus a real honour to support the project’.
Mark Rachovides (Greyfriars, Modern History, 1981)
‘We are excited about the project to honour Greyfriars Hall, and hope that Regent’s will increasingly offer a place around which Greyfriars alumni will continue to gather. Regent’s provides a unique opportunity to keep the legacy of Greyfriars Hall alive for future generations’.
Nicholas Adams (Greyfriars, Jurisprudence, 2004) and Jo Jimenez (Greyfriars, History & English, 2005)
How you can support your College in 2021
We have worked hard as a College to offer tailored assistance to each and every student through the continually changing circumstances they have faced this year. It is a privilege for us to have provided this kind of support, and feedback from students and staff gives us confidence that it has made a positive difference.
Whilst Regent's has been able to face this year’s challenges on a sure financial footing, the experience of 2020 has made clear our limitations in terms of meeting the needs exposed by the pandemic. To raise funds for our most fundamental needs, and allow as many people as possible to gather together behind their college, we are launching our first ever Giving Day. This will be an opportunity for the whole Regent’s community of staff, students, alumni and friends to join in online - on a single day - to support the College and its future. Mark 25-26 May 2021 in your diary and please update your email address with us to ensure you don’t miss out! If you can get involved through giving and volunteering on the Giving Day, you will be helping us reach our goals for three key College priorities:
1
Student Support
We need to expand our ability to respond with flexibility to unexpected needs or hardship without constraints or restrictions, and give students additional opportunities for expanding their research and studies that will help them flourish. Growing this fund will provide huge value to students, helping in more ways as more and more students find themselves having to ask for financial help or additional support from the College for real needs they could never have planned for.
2
Improving the living and learning environment
We are striving to provide the best quality of accommodation and facilities for our students, and support towards the development and maintenance of the site and its facilities will let the College focus on the most pressing needs. This is particularly important given that financial restrictions this year forced us to pause planned renovations. For those who wish to leave a lasting legacy, in recognition of generosity there is considerable scope to remember your name or that of a loved one in rooms throughout the College.
3
Outreach and Access
As a small college with a reputation for providing a strong sense of belonging within a diverse and inclusive community, Regent’s has an important role to play dispelling myths about Oxford for young people. This is of real value in the current climate where young people are faced with more uncertainty than previous generations. We believe strongly that Regent’s provides a superlative community for students for whom Oxford could be an alienating experience. With support we can increase our links to schools with historically low Oxbridge attendance and work with young people to inspire and instil confidence to apply, thereby opening up huge potential and opportunity.
As Covid Persists, So Does Regent’s Access and Outreach Work
Virtual open days and virtual Q&A events with participating schools have continued over lockdowns and staff ran very successful mock interviews with local state school students. A big project in 2020 has been our new partnership with The Oxford Academy, a secondary school in Littlemore, Oxford. The new ‘Regent’s Innovative Research Award’ was co-designed by undergraduate and postgraduate volunteers who work with year 10 students identified by their teachers as bright and/or at risk of not continuing to further education. Feedback from the school has been excellent. We have re-established our connection to Oxford Cymru, a group of colleges headed by Jesus College focused on access and outreach in Wales. Objectives in 2021 will be expanding student training and our connections with schools and working with RE PGCE students, Regent’s staff and local partners to promote the study of theology at university level in state schools.
Alumni Events
We cannot wait to welcome our alumni and friends back to the College, or travel out to meet with you in person, when it becomes safe to gather together again. But in the meantime, our events offering for alumni has gone virtual!
In October 2020 the event Thinking Liberation presented a unique opportunity to hear Dr Kate Kirkpatrick and Dr Anthony Reddie in conversation about their formative influences and shared hopes for their respective work in liberation theology and feminist philosophy.
For our second Regent’s alumni and friends event, Research Fellow in Economics Pawel Adrjan drew on his experience as the UK Economist at Indeed, the world’s largest job site, to discuss the impact of the Covid pandemic on the world of work.
Are you not receiving your invitations to our exclusive alumni and friends’ events? Don’t miss out, email development@regents.ox.ac.uk to update the details we hold for you.
Legacies to Regent’s
Legacies and bequests have been a foundation on which the College has developed since first matriculating students in the 1950s. Leaving a gift in your will is an opportunity to make a lasting impact on a cause that is personally important to you. If you would like to discuss any aspect of leaving a gift in your will to Regent’s, you are more than welcome to get in touch with Viola Kerr, Development Director on 01865 288141 or viola.kerr@regents.ox.ac.uk
We are here for you! Meet your Development & Alumni Relations Team
Viola Kerr has been Director of Development and Alumni Relations since July 2019. She came to the College having worked in fundraising in the education and charitable sectors. Viola has responsibility for all aspects of development and alumni relations at Regent’s; contact her at viola.kerr@regents.ox.ac.uk if you are considering giving to the College or if you would like to discuss leaving a lasting gift through making provision for the College in your will.
Amanda Sharp joined the team as Development Officer in September 2020 after working in museums and heritage. Amanda provides administrative support to the Development Office and manages Regent’s alumni communications programme, including the production of the College magazine; contact her at development@regents.ox.ac.uk to update your contact details, for information about our alumni events programme, or for help making a gift to the College.
We are a small team with ambitious plans for 2021, as we develop opportunities for the whole Regent’s network of alumni, friends, students and staff to engage with one another and to support the College, whether by donating time, expertise or funds. The involvement of each and every person who has been connected to Regent’s Park College is not only welcome and valued, it makes a huge and tangible difference. Please get in touch if you would like to explore ways you can help.
Our heartfelt thanks to all those who have given to the College this year whether financially or of your time and skills. We depend on your support and are deeply grateful for it.
