Your Impact Online

Welcome to Your Impact

A warm welcome to Your Impact ONLINE. We hope you enjoy reading about how your support has made a difference at Manchester this year.

You can scroll down to read more, or use the navigation bar at the top of this page to find the stories you care about most. After a challenging year, your support means more than ever. Thank you.

Last year, thousands of you came together to help our students through the Emergency Hardship Fund. Your generosity has made a vital difference to students in need, through a range of projects and special initiatives.

Emergency financial support

The pandemic caused considerable financial concerns for many students at Manchester, but your donations to the Emergency Hardship Fund brought relief to those in need. Emergency grants meant that students could continue their studies at Manchester, regardless of their current financial circumstances.

Isabele is one of the students who has benefited from an emergency grant, thanks to your support.

“Initially, I relocated to Manchester hoping to work alongside my degree, but I have been subjected to a constrained job market and haven’t been able to secure a position yet. Without your support I wouldn’t have been able to stay in Manchester any longer. 

“Thank you so much for your trust and kindness. For those of us who are not able to count on support from our own network, being granted your support means having someone helping you with your dreams and motivating you to keep overcoming challenges.”

Isabele Amaral, Emergency Hardship Fund beneficiary

Help with the cost of living

Your support helped to provide accommodation bursaries for students who would otherwise have struggled with the cost of living. This targeted support was particularly vital for students with no alternative place to live during the pandemic – including those who grew up in care or who are estranged from their families.

Extra mental health support

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on the mental health of students. Thanks to your donations, we were able to appoint a trained Mental Health Practitioner to work across student halls and provide proactive mental health advice and support, in partnership with the University’s Counselling and Mental Health Service.

Why I supported the Emergency Hardship Fund

Gifts to our Emergency Hardship Appeal were matched by a group of generous Manchester alumni. David Chu was one of those donors – and also chose to support our COVID-19 research. He wanted to give the next generation of students the same opportunities he had.

“I attended The University of Manchester for four years and the University gave me so much during my time there. I have been successful in my business career and it is important to give back so that today’s students can enjoy the same opportunity as I did. When I heard from Manchester last year that the University needed help from its alumni, I knew I had to give to the fundraising appeals.”

David Chu, MSc Mechanical Engineering 1959

Find out more about the impact that donations to the COVID-19 Emergency Hardship Fund have had on Manchester students by visiting our fundraising blog.

The University of Manchester’s COVID-19 Research Fund was launched in May 2020 to support the fight against COVID-19. At a critical time, your support has enhanced what our scientists are able to deliver.

Long-term impact of COVID-19 on hearing

We know there are many long-term health consequences associated with COVID-19. The University of Manchester has now established a link between the virus and hearing loss.

With your support, we were able to carry out a systematic review of COVID-19 and the audio-vestibular (hearing and balance) system, and identified a prevalence of hearing loss, tinnitus and vertigo.

These results will help us estimate the number and severity of COVID-19 related hearing disorders in the UK, and discover which parts of the auditory system might be affected.

Exploring therapeutic potential in long COVID-19

We urgently need to develop new therapies for those suffering from the longer-term effects of COVID-19.

With your help, our researchers are examining patients’ blood samples at different intervals to look at long-term changes to their immune system.

They will use this information to predict which patients will go on to develop other health problems in the future and to identify new, effective personalised treatments to improve care for people with long COVID. Your donations made this study possible, and its results have led to potential funding opportunities to progress this research further.

“This vital funding has created the opportunity for us to provide sufficient evidence of ongoing immunological abnormalities to put us in the best position to apply for a larger UK Research and Innovation investment to progress this work."

Professor Tracey Hussell, Director of the Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation at The University of Manchester and leader of this study.

Neurological impact of COVID-19

Many patients with COVID-19 experience neurological problems such as headaches, confusion and disabling strokes. Longer term neurological consequences are emerging, which share similarities with those seen in patients who develop dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

With your support, a Manchester team is conducting experiments using stem cell models to find out how COVID-19 enters and affects the different cells of the brain, and whether the presence of the virus leads to changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease and strokes.

“These experiments are vital to helping us understand how COVID-19 enters the brain and damages cells leading to possible neurological problems.” 

Professor Nigel Hooper, Associate Vice President of Research and lead academic on the study.

This year, thousands of you have donated to provide life-changing opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

As the new academic year approaches, many of those who might otherwise have considered abandoning their dream of attending university are now looking forward to a world-class education at Manchester. This is all thanks to donors like you who have helped to fund their scholarships, and open doors for those who truly deserve it.

Dentistry student Rachel shared explained how she came to study at Manchester, with your generous help:

"I’ve lived in Manchester since I was eight years old. It’s a great city with a lovely university, which is why I wanted to stay here as a student.

I didn’t have a good experience when going to the dentist back in China but my view changed when I came to the UK. The dentist I have now is great, and she is also a graduate from The University of Manchester! She is the kind of dentist I aspire to become.

As my fifth year approaches, I look forward to overcoming any obstacles on the way to achieving my goals. I don’t know how the current situation will progress but I am optimistic that the world will beat this pandemic.

I would like to take this opportunity to show my sincere gratitude to you for donating so generously. My scholarship has allowed me to enjoy the university experience to its fullest.

Your kindness means that more students like me will be encouraged to take on courses like Dentistry or Medicine, which might otherwise be restricted to those who can afford it. These courses last longer than most which can discourage a lot of people for financial reasons.

Your donations are especially appreciated during times like this when there is so much financial instability for many students and their families. Thank you."

Rachel Chen
Fourth year Dentistry student
Undergraduate Access Scholar

"When I was a student in the 1980s,
I was lucky to receive support through the government grant scheme. Students today don’t get that luxury.

That’s why I choose to support current students, to make sure no one is deprived of the chance of success because of their financial circumstances."

Carlos Conceicao
LLB Law 1985
Donor to Undergraduate Access Scholarships

Ambiya was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship, so we talked to her about how it's helped support her studies. By making a gift today, you’ll make sure that another bright, deserving person like Ambiya can take up their university spot this September: https://bit.ly/2QJcLna

For over 10 years, donor support has enabled bright students from the developing world to study a master’s at Manchester. The education they receive at the University is crucial in helping them to bring monumental positive change to their home country.

Ivan, a recipient of a donor-funded Equity & Merit Scholarship at Manchester, shares his story:

“Growing up in Northern Uganda, I experienced first-hand the detrimental effect of infectious diseases in my community. This triggered my drive to find solutions.

Working as a research assistant in veterinary medicine, I realised that zoonotic diseases (spread from non-humans to humans) have long been ignored in our health sector.

With a degree from The University of Manchester, I will gain invaluable skills to lead zoonotic disease detection in Uganda.

I will never forget that day I found out I had been awarded a scholarship to study at The University of Manchester. This was a dream come true for someone like me. It was simply not possible to attend such a prestigious University without the scholarship.

At Manchester, I am gaining skills to expand infectious zoonotic disease research and improve health outcomes in Uganda and beyond. I have already been able to transfer knowledge I have learned to my laboratory team back home.

This life-changing opportunity would have never been possible without your donations. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.”

Ivan Odur
Current master's student, Medical Microbiology
Equity & Merit Scholar

It wasn’t until Ann began full-time work that she was able to consider studying at university. Now she has seen the benefits of her Manchester education, she has pledged a gift in her Will to fund scholarships for talented students. She hopes this will help others to reap the same rewards she did:

"Going to university wasn’t part of the conversation with my parents and, if it had been, money would’ve always been the barrier. I don’t want that to be the case for future students.

Once I’d begun a career in health and safety, studying a master’s in Philosophy at Manchester seemed a really good option to further my understanding and use the acquired knowledge in my work.

It was more than just an education at Manchester; it became almost like a hobby because I enjoyed my time there so much.

The degree really opened doors for me. A degree from Manchester is respected, and it gave me more confidence.

That’s why I thought of the University when writing my Will. Manchester very much left a mark on me, both academically and personally.

From talking to students, I know that many are coping with a range of inequalities and poverty. By leaving a legacy gift, I’d like to provide more opportunities for them to overcome these barriers."

Ann Benn
MA Healthcare Ethics 1992

If you would like to find out more about leaving a gift in your Will, please visit www.manchester.ac.uk/legacy to order your free guide to legacy giving. Or you can contact Rob Summers, Head of Development, on rob.summers@manchester.ac.uk
or +44 (0) 161 275 2192.

Support for PhD scholarships give tomorrow’s research leaders the chance to make a difference to global challenges. And by increasing the number of early-career researchers working on key issues like health, sustainability and global inequality, your gifts are having a real-world impact right now. 

After completing a master’s degree in molecular mechanisms of disease, Hasse secured a donor-funded PhD scholarship at Manchester and added further expertise to an established group of of talented young people within our world-leading cancer research programmes.  

“I’m studying epigenetic dysregulation in Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (CMML). CMML is a type of leukaemia - a cancer of the bone marrow. 

Treatment options for this disease are currently severely lacking; the only curative option, a stem cell transplantation, is not available to most patients due to their age or poor health. 

One of the main questions regarding this rare form of cancer is what causes the disease to form. A lot of cancers are linked to DNA mutations, however my colleagues and I think that CMML is instead driven by epigenetics, which are changes to the way that DNA is expressed.  

I’m assessing whether epigenetics are important in CMML, and hope that my research will lead to improved treatment for CMML patients. 

This scholarship has been incredibly valuable for me. I went into cancer research to make a difference in the world and, with the support I’ve received through this scholarship I feel even more motivated to find something that will benefit CMML patients. 

Thank you for making this experience possible.” 

Hasse Bossenbroek
Recipient of a Pickering PhD Scholarship

Thanks to you and your fellow donors, recruitment is underway for a new postgraduate researcher, who will join the Manchester stroke team in September.

The new researcher will focus on brain haemorrhage – which accounts for one in seven strokes and lead to 40% of all stroke deaths. Brain haemorrhages claim millions of lives around the world every year, and an emergency treatment is desperately needed.

That’s why we asked our community to help us raise £100,000 to expand Manchester’s stroke team with an extra researcher. In just a few months, you made it happen.

Our new PhD student will speed up the search for a brain haemorrhage treatment, help us learn more about how brain haemorrhages affect the brain, and develop new approaches in the lab to inform future clinical trials.

We look forward to introducing you to our new researcher later in the year.
 
“Thank you so much for choosing to support the University in finding a life-saving stroke treatment sooner. Your donation means we can now strengthen our team with crucial expertise which will drive our research on to new levels."

Professor Stuart Allan
Professor of Neuroscience, and Director of the Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre

Between 2017 and 2019, 127 of you clocked up over 1200km in support of Manchester students. Side by side with others from our community, you took on the challenge of the University’s Purple Wave in the Great Manchester Run. And by donning your trainers, you raised an incredible £26,000 to ensure that the brightest students could say ‘yes’ to Manchester, regardless of their background.

We all know how hard our students work for their offer of a place to study at Manchester – many of us have been there ourselves, after all! But for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, the costs of university can be so daunting that they have to consider not continuing with their education at all.

Thanks to your fantastic fundraising efforts, seven students have been awarded Undergraduate Access Scholarships to help finance their studies. You’ve helped them take their rightful place here at Manchester. And the financial support you’ve provided to these incredibly talented Purple Wave Scholars, will enable them to become the audiologists, dentists, doctors, lawyers, nurses, and pharmacists of the future.

Saeedah is a second-year Children’s Nursing student and Purple Wave Scholar who dreams of working as a Neonatal Nurse.

“I appreciate the NHS for being the backbone of society during this pandemic. Without them, we couldn’t have got through it. I look forward to joining this amazing team. I’m ever so grateful to the Purple Wave fundraisers for making this year possible and allowing me to pursue my passion for Nursing at The University of Manchester.”

Second-year Law student and Purple Wave Scholar, Khadija, has spent much of her free time this year volunteering at the University’ own Legal Advice Centre as an advisor.

“My scholarship has helped me access books and other essentials without feeling concerned about having to ask my parents for money I know they don’t have. You have made my university experience something I can cherish rather than something I worried about affording.”

Members of our community have run, walked and jogged the Purple Wave to support many areas of the University over the years. In 2020, the pandemic meant that the Purple Wave went virtual. Alumni, staff and students across the world took part to raise much needed funds for our new, state-of-the-art cancer building. Read more below.

If you’re interested in taking on your own fundraising challenge to support the University, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us at supporters@manchester.ac.uk.

Following a devastating fire that destroyed our former cancer research building, we’re working with our donor community to create a new, globally leading cancer research facility.

Construction is underway, and we’re getting closer to our fundraising goal of £6 million every day. This comprehensive building will transform the breadth and impact of our research and will ultimately save countless lives through prevention, early detection and treatment.

Re-writing the future of cancer

• We’re embedding world-leading research directly into a cancer hospital and taking research ‘from the bench to the bedside’.

• We’re aiming to double the percentage of patients who are offered access to a clinical trial by 2030, from 15% to 30%.

• We’re translating our research into treating cancer patients also suffering from other illnesses.

• The new building will develop Manchester as a top radiotherapy research centre in the world.

We will keep you up to date in the months to come about this unique opportunity to create one of the top cancer research centres in the world, right here in the heart of Manchester. Together we can use the power of research to re-write the future of cancer and help beat cancer for patients and their families.

Find out more about Re-Write Cancer and how you can support it, at www.manchester.ac.uk/rewrite-cancer

Hello Future at Manchester Museum

Did you know that your University is home to the UK’s largest university museum?

With your support, Manchester Museum can have an even greater impact on society, and help build a more secure future for people and the environment.

Hello future is a transformational £13.5 million redevelopment of Manchester Museum. At its heart will be a beautiful, two-storey extension featuring a new exhibition hall, a flagship South Asia Gallery, The Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery, and designated spaces for researchers, artists, environmentalists, educators and students to work side by side.

The current pandemic has put huge pressure on the cultural sector, at a time when communities need it most. With the generosity of our donor community, we’re hoping to open hello future to the public in Autumn 2022.

Makerspace at MEC

Construction is now complete on the Manchester Engineering Campus (MEC), a game changer for engineering and material science. Home to progressive, future-facing technologies and facilities, MEC will open to students as well as the general public in the 2021/22 academic year.

Front and centre of the new campus will be the Makerspace, which has been designed and developed with students at its heart.

Containing specialist tools and equipment, the Makerspace will be a collaborative working environment where the very best ideas can be developed. Donors like you are supporting this innovative approach to teaching and learning, and helping make the Makerspace a reality.

If you are interested in finding out more about projects like these, or are considering supporting them yourself, please contact us at supporters@manchester.ac.uk.