Northumbria
has renewed its partnership with Santander Universities in a move designed to offer
even greater life-changing opportunities for students from all backgrounds.
The new agreement
runs to 2028 and represents a 10-year-long partnership with Santander with financial
support totalling more than £1.3 million. This has included the funding of more
than 300 internships with regional businesses, 60 mobility scholarships to help
disadvantaged students, enterprise weekends for entrepreneurial students,
overseas study and a range of other scholarships. Santander also donated
£100,000 to Northumbria’s incubator hub opened in 2019 to help graduate
start-ups establish and build their businesses.
Over the
next three years Santander will continue to support Northumbria students
through education scholarships, support for entrepreneurship, and mobility, for
example, through overseas study opportunities. The bank will also provide continued
funding for the Brighter Futures Grants campaign which provided 20 students
with a £1,000 grant in 2023/24 to support them with their study and living
costs.
Professor
Andy Long, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Northumbria said: “We
are delighted and proud to extend our agreement with Santander Universities UK
and further strengthen a decade-long partnership which enhances the learning
experience and life chances for so many of our students – especially those from
less advantaged backgrounds. Having a clear social mobility mission is a key
part of Northumbria’s strategy, sitting alongside a focus on quality research
and playing a major role in the success of the regional economy. Santander’s ongoing
support contributes enormously to these aims and I look forward to developing the
relationship even further in the years to come.”
One undergraduate
student to benefit from Santander’s support is James Chan, who has received a
£30,000 scholarship to study a five-year extended computer science with games
development degree. Currently enjoying a study-abroad programme with semesters
in both the USA and Germany, James said: “I am really enjoying my time at
Northumbria and the study abroad opportunities and just want to say a huge
thank you to Santander for the funds, which have been a massive help. The scholarship has helped me in many ways,
especially with maintenance and accommodation costs. The opportunity to study, to
travel, and meet new people has really taken me out of my comfort zone and is
helping me develop as a young person. None of this would have been possible
without the support of Northumbria and Santander and I am extremely grateful.”
Northumbria’s
partnership renewal with Santander will provide a further £150,000over the next
three years and opens fresh opportunities for Northumbria’s students and business
partners. It also means the University can work with more SMEs and start-ups in
the region through initiatives such as paid student internships.
Santander’s
funding will also provide a significant boost to Northumbria’s Higher Education Without
Barriers campaign to help ensure anyone with the potential to go to
university has the opportunity to do so.
Matt Hutnell, Director at Santander Universities UK, commented: “At Santander we are committed to supporting
education, employability and entrepreneurship. We’re proud to continue our
partnership with Northumbria University and provide even more opportunities for
students, staff and the local community to develop skills to help them achieve
their full potential.”
Santander
has a long-standing history of supporting the higher education sector, with a
focus on education, employability and entrepreneurship. Over the past 26 years
the bank has provided over €2.2 billion in funding globally and supported over
one million people.
