Thanks for taking the time to visit my Big Walk 2016 JustGiving page. More information about The Big Walk 2016 can be found at www.shef.ac.uk/big-walk

I will be part of a 'One Day Challenge' team of staff, students, alumni and friends who will walk 18 miles back to the University campus on, Friday 17 June.

Funds raised through the Big Walk will be used to support refugee academics and students at the University, to demonstrate our solidarity with refugees and to show that refugees are welcome at our University and in our city. Our University is a University of Sanctuary and this has been our tradition since this institution was founded. 

The more we can raise, the more we can help. A proportion of the donations will  be used to boost scholarships to refugee students. They will receive an additional sum, to be used for a specific purpose, e.g. accommodation, books.

The bulk of the donations will be used to support at-risk academics.  Every academic we help comes with their own needs.  Donations will not be used to cover university fees but will instead provide additional support for other expenses such as visas, travel costs to the UK, accommodation and living expenses. Refugee academics often come to the UK with nothing so need absolute basics – right down to pots and pans, or bedding.  It’s easy to see that your donations will make an enormous difference for people in this situation.

More info on how the funds raised will be used:

• Supporting at-risk academics: We have strong links with a number of programmes to support at-risk academics, including the Institute of International Education's Scholar Rescue Fund and the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA) -  a charity which helps academics in immediate danger, those forced into exile. Through these partnerships, the University of Sheffield can host academics, giving them a place of safety and the financial and practical help to continue their careers until such as time as they can return home.

• Students seeking refuge or asylum: The University offers fully funded undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships for refugees including those seeking asylum in the UK.

Thank you for supporting the Big Walk 2016.

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