Queen Mary University’s London Engineering students benefit from Coachmakers’ donation to its COVID-19 Emergency Hardship Fund

The hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic during the Livery year 2020-21 was so severe that the Coachmakers felt strongly that it was appropriate to put together a package of special support to help those in need, over and above our normal level of giving. Extraordinary times called for an extraordinary response, and our Livery stepped up to the plate with an emergency support package put together in early 2021.

The package focused on support for young people in London. Around half of the additional donations went towards student hardship funds for STEM students at the five London universities with which we are connected: Brunel, City, Imperial, Kingston, and Queen Mary.

The donated funds to the universities were for student hardship needs which, as we were all aware, were horrendous at the time. The normal routes for students to earn money in and out of term are mostly via the hospitality and retail trades, which had been closed effectively since March 2020. Hardship donations were specifically aimed at students reading automotive, aerospace and other STEM subjects.

Queen Mary University London (QMUL) has reported on the specific uses to which our donation to its Emergency COVID-19 Hardship Fund has been put. The Fund supports students across the university who have faced financial hardship as a result of the pandemic. Donations were made to support students studying a course aligned to engineering, in particular automotive or aerospace engineering courses, who were in financial need.

As a result, six awards were made to provide immediate financial support to qualifying students in June 2021. The selected students are studying the following courses: BEng Aerospace Engineering, MEng Aerospace Engineering, BEng Mechanical Engineering and BEng Engineering.

QMUL has reported on the academic progress of these individuals, showing a great set of results.

Melissa Morrison, Development Executive (Trusts and Foundations) at QMUL, said: “Once again, thank you for choosing to support our students. Your generosity has been greatly appreciated.”

Coachmakers should feel proud that their hardship donations have made a real difference to students in financial difficulty studying towards careers in our associated industries.

Further reports on the progress of the students we have supported can be expected during the coming months, highlighting the impact of our donation strategy.