BACKING BRIGHT FUTURES
Through
The Forever Surrey Fund
YOUR SUPPORT CAN CHANGE A STUDENT’S LIFE
Everyone’s Surrey experience is unique. For you, it may have been the place you discovered your future career path, learned to live independently, or joined a club where you made lifelong friends.
Now imagine if – through no fault of your own – you’d had those experiences taken away because you hadn’t been able to afford the next month’s rent, your weekly shop, or the chance to make the most of your Surrey experience.
Your gift to The Forever Surrey Fund could be the difference between a student completing their course or leaving Surrey altogether.
£25
Can help a student with their weekly shop.*
£50
Can enable a student to take part in a club or society for a term.
£5 per month
Can help a student cover essential travel costs.**
£10 per month
Can ensure a student is supported when facing an unexpected financial crisis.
*On average, students spend £33 a week on groceries. National Student Money Survey 2024
**87% of students who live at home out of financial necessity are worried about the cost of commuting. Blackbullion Student Money and Wellbeing 2024
Every gift, no matter the size, helps students stay focused and on track for graduation.
Support the next generation of Surrey students – because no one should fall behind for reasons beyond their control.
STAYING AT SURREY WASN’T GUARANTEED: LIAM’S STORY
Thanks to support from The Forever Surrey Fund, Liam – who came to Surrey in 2019 to study Psychology – was able to continue his studies and thrive. Today, as he comes to the end of his time as President of the Students’ Union, Liam reflects on how that support shaped his Surrey story.
I chose Surrey because when I was looking at what different universities had to offer, nowhere else spoke about the community and the things that they did for their students quite in the way Surrey did.
I saw everything Surrey does for students who are in hardship, students who find themselves in mental health crises, offering support for clubs and societies, all these different parts of the student experience, which is something I strongly valued alongside a world-class education.
I saw that, and I knew that Surrey was the home I wanted.
Thanks to The Forever Surrey Fund, 28 students at risk of leaving are now on track to graduate in July.
Liam embraced university life and got involved in student activities across campus. He danced and performed in Strictly Come Surrey with the Ballroom and Latin Club.
But midway through his degree, circumstances changed, and Liam found himself needing support in a way that he hadn’t planned for.
A SURREY EXPERIENCE, ALMOST CUT SHORT
When the pandemic hit in 2020, being estranged from his family, Liam had nowhere else to go and had to remain in Battersea Court. With limited job opportunities available at the time, it wasn’t long before finances became unmanageable.
Having already taken out the maximum maintenance loan and gone into his overdraft, he got in touch with the Student Money Team who supported him in applying to The Forever Surrey Fund
48% of students said they had considered dropping out due to moneyrelated reasons.
The financial support meant that I could stay on; I could reintegrate into university and get the experience that I wanted. It can be embarrassing for someone to say, ‘I need financial help’. There’s this idea that if you come to university you have to be fiercely independent, you must do everything yourself and be completely self-sufficient. But the reality is you can be so prepared, you can get a part time job lined up, but you’ll have unexpected expenses. Things will happen that you can’t plan for.
The support alleviated the financial pressures on Liam and set him on the path to graduation and student advocacy – culminating in him being elected as President of the Students’ Union.
If I didn’t have that olive branch of The Forever Surrey Fund, I probably would have dropped out, I probably wouldn’t have seen university and higher education as the right thing for me.
National Student Money Survey 2024
WHAT’S HAPPENING AT SURREY?
Many of you will remember the challenge of juggling studies, part-time work and living costs while at university. But the unfortunate truth is that for today’s students, those financial pressures have intensified.
The cost of rent, food and transport has risen dramatically, yet maintenance loans haven’t kept pace. Leaving students to cover the shortfall on their own.
Even those who work part-time often find themselves stretched too thin. Forced to sacrifice social activities, clubs, and crucially, their studies.
The average maintenance loan now falls £504 short of covering monthly living costs.
Rent in Guildford averages £623 per month, up £270 since 2022.
76% of students are worried about their final degree grade being impacted due to the cost of living.
If you come from a family where you’re not able to receive the maximum maintenance loan, but your parents aren’t able to support financially, you absolutely have to be working. And because Students are putting so much time into supporting themselves, it’s affecting their education and the university experience they are getting.
The Forever Surrey Fund steps in when it matters most – offering timely, practical support that helps our students stay and succeed.
