For many of our students who relied heavily on university resources, lockdown has exacerbated the situation faced by some of our most vulnerable students making the transition to online teaching and everyday life extremely challenging.

Sarah is a mature student in her second year of her fine art degree. Having two children living with her, she has struggled to keep up with bill payments and put food on the table, let alone purchase a new laptop for her online learning.  

The only support Sarah received was her maintenance loan from student finance. To make things worse, with no other household income to support the family, Sarah’s debt was building up and she feared that she would not be able to afford essential items such as the broadband access required to continue her online studies.    

That’s when Sarah reached out to the university hardship fund and received financial support to purchase a laptop and internet security, along with a hardship payment to support herself and her children.  

'I was overjoyed as it came at a moment that I really needed something positive. It was a lifeline and helped me to buy food and buy a computer to help me keep on top of my learning.'

Sarah, fine art student

Thankfully donations to the Hallam Fund are offering a lifeline to students like Sarah when they need it the most. But we know that as the effect of the pandemic continues, the need to support the most disadvantaged students will remain also.