One of the great pleasures of my job is to say thank you – to all those who have generously supported the University of London over the last year. Whether you gave your time to provide guidance to a student or made a donation to one of our strategic priorities, your support is key to our ongoing success – thank you!  

Gratitude to colleagues and students

I am also eternally grateful to my colleagues at the University – not just the Development Office team who interact with our alumni, friends and supporters every day, but staff around the whole institution who are the backbone of the University of London. Every contact with our supporters has some connection with colleagues – from the Finance team who ensure we professionally manage donations, through to those who support current students and ensure we direct scholarships and hardship funds to those most in need.  

And our students have never needed our collective support more. The COVID-19 pandemic and economic challenges affect everyone, but many of our students have overcome huge obstacles – whether dealing with a natural disaster or living in a country torn apart by war – and yet they remain positive and continue to progress their UoL education. Their continued tenacity and resilience is truly humbling.  

Alumni Ambassadors

Your support helps break down many of these barriers to education. Our growing cohort of more than 300 Alumni Ambassadors guide and support our existing and potential students. Then there are alumni donors like József Váradi and Aare Afe Babalola whose vision and generosity provide long-term financial support for many students across the world.  

We are also seeing an increase in those who contact us to discuss leaving a gift to the University in their Will and we would encourage anyone making these plans to speak with us to discuss how you can help the University in the future. Your support will enable future generations of students to continue to benefit from a university education and help us continue the mission of the University of London.  

Looking forward

We have exciting times ahead. 2024 will see the completion of the £14.5m Warburg Renaissance redevelopment with new spaces in the Warburg being filled with innovative scholarship and artistic engagement. The University is also in the early stages of planning a transformation of Senate House Library, to make it a global, digital resource for students, researchers and the visiting public, as well as opening up many of our collections to the world. I look forward to sharing further information with you about this exciting project in the coming months and years as this becomes one of our philanthropic priorities.

Thank you to everyone whose support to the University this year is making wonderful things happen, here in London and around the world.

Bill Abraham
Director of Development