New Foundation fundraising to give disadvantaged Black British students a boost into top universities

@CowrieSF is a new foundation 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!”