By Desmond Davies
London, April 26, GNA – Footballer Raheem Sterling, who plays for English Premier League side Chelsea, has launched a foundation that will see 14 scholarships offered to young people of black, African and Caribbean heritage to study at two of the UK’s top universities.
The scholarships, seven per university, will go to residents of Greater Manchester and Greater London for undergraduate studies at the University of Manchester and King’s College London over the next three years.
The Raheem Sterling Foundation says it is committed to greater social mobility, providing better education, and furthering employment opportunities for young people.
Applicants are expected to come from socio-economically under-represented backgrounds in a bid to help close the attainment gap for black British students, increase social mobility, and support equal access to higher education.
Research shows in 2021/22, less than five per cent of all UK students starting undergraduate degrees were black.
Sterling said: “I hope this initiative will be a real game changer over the next few years and I am delighted to be working with two of the finest universities in the world.
“This opportunity will help young people access further education and present them with experiences and opportunities that will enhance their future career prospects.
“I wish the recipients of our funding all the very best and look forward to meeting everyone on campus in Manchester and London later this year.”
Clive Ellington, Chair of Trustees, said: “At the Raheem Sterling Foundation, we believe that access to better education and employment opportunities should be made fair to all young people regardless of financial circumstances and background.
“The work we do is in pursuit of improving their opportunities, future careers and quality of life and we won’t rest until we succeed in Raheem’s vision of achieving this.”
The President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, commented: “The Raheem Sterling Foundation partnership will give us additional support to enable talented black students to access higher education, mitigating financial challenges so they are better able to focus on their studies and realise their full potential.
“I believe that scholarships are a vital tool in helping students to access and progress through higher education, which is why we are so proud to partner with Raheem to invest in talented black students in Greater Manchester.”
Professor Shitij Kapur, President and Principal of King’s College London, said: “Widening participation in higher education makes both King’s and the wider world a better place.
“We are delighted to partner with the Raheem Sterling Foundation to further our work in this area and enable more support for underrepresented students to access higher education, achieve their aspirations and become the change-makers of the future.”
The first four scholarships, two at King’s and two at Manchester, will be available for students beginning degree programmes in 2023/24.
The University of Manchester is the world’s first civic university and first in the UK to have social responsibility as a core goal.
Twenty-five per cent of its undergraduate students come from disadvantaged backgrounds – a significant number in comparison to other universities.
King’s College London is one of the leading English Russell Group universities for social mobility, welcoming the highest number of black undergraduate students and ranking 6th in the most recent social mobility index.
GNA