Local support for NMITE, New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering, has seen a pre-Christmas boost with over £36,000 raised (including match-funding) during the week 29th November – 6th December. Participating in The Big Give Christmas Challenge, NMITE has been raising money to provide bursaries for three local students from disadvantaged backgrounds who will join NMITE in September 2023.
The fund raising has been achieved as part of The Big Give Christmas Challenge, a national matched funding campaign run by The Big Give. NMITE achieved its Christmas Challenge target just two days into the campaign with over 45 local donors having given money, including local businesses ranging from estate agencies to engineering companies. The final total is 22% over NMITE’s initial target and over a third of the donors had not previously supported NMITE.
Laura Perratt, Fundraising Associate explains, “The response has been overwhelmingly positive. At our launch event last week, we received amazing feedback and there was a real sense of the community coming together to support local students. As we exceeded our target, we now have even more funding available to enhance our Engineer in Herefordshire bursary offer and attract a more diverse cohort of future engineers. Our aim is to help Herefordshire students who might otherwise have been unable or reluctant to continue their education. We want to train more engineers who can then go on to contribute to a highly skilled local workforce.”
One of the donors was Phil Collins of Collins Design & Build “I have supported NMITE for over a decade. Like most people who run businesses in Hereford and who are looking for skilled young people, I am frustrated by the skills shortage and people who understand how things are made, how things work and how to fix things. When The Big Give was announced and there was an offer to double whatever was given up to £30,000 then I could not wait to persuade Hereford Businesses to get involved. This is not just a fundraising opportunity but a chance to raise the awareness – and my goodness it worked so well. Many congratulations to the NMITE team and all of those who have supported it.”
The campaign was supported by two current NMITE MEng students including Fin Neate who started as part of NMITE’s very first cohort in September 2021, “I know first-hand that bursaries make a world of difference to any student, but especially for those who, like me, need a little extra support to get started.” Tom Reese, who joined NMITE in September 2022 after ten years working in industry, was also awarded a significant bursary and says, “it has given me the confidence to continue to further my skills and develop as an engineer without facing financial hardship.”
NMITE applied to be part of the campaign in June and then had two months to collect pledges to reach the £7,500 target. This was then matched by The Reed Foundation to create the total of £15,000 which provides the target needed for match-funding for the Christmas Challenge. During the recent campaign week, the matched funding is unlocked by donations from members of the public. So, every donation made, up to £15,000, is doubled bringing NMITE’s total to over £30,000.
NMITE will soon be accepting applications from local students who would like to apply for these bursaries and details will be available on NMITE’s website: https://nmite.ac.uk/scholarships-and-bursaries
