Multi-million pound grant donated by Sir John Cass's Foundation.
Date: 20 July 2015
London Metropolitan University has received a grant of £2.6m from Sir John Cass’s Foundation to further its work in widening participation in higher education.
The University, which has a long history of bringing students from all backgrounds into education, will use the funding to engage with students in some of London’s poorest boroughs.
Professor John Raftery, Vice Chancellor of London Met, commented: “We are extremely grateful to Sir John Cass’s Foundation for this generous grant which will enable us to do even more to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds transform their lives through higher education.
“This grant is an endorsement of the life-changing work we do in widening participation, and we look forward to furthering this work.”
London Met’s origins go back to 1848, with the opening of the Metropolitan Evening Classes for Working Men. Ever since then, the University has been committed to ensuring anyone with the potential for university study is given the opportunity to undertake it.
“This extra funding from the Foundation will enable us to do even more of this socially valuable work, which benefits not just students but London as a whole,” Professor Raftery added.
London Met has a long association with Sir John Cass’s Foundation, which is one of London’s largest and oldest education charities. It aims to promote the education of young people in inner-London - a mission close to that of London Met. Over 40% of students at London Met are from within 7 miles of the University, while 70% of its students qualify for maintenance grants.
Kevin Everett, the Chairman of Sir John Cass's Foundation, said: “The Foundation is delighted to have awarded a multi-million pound grant to London Metropolitan University to boost their widening participation projects.
“We are acutely aware of the historical links between the foundation and London Met, and given the recent announcement by the Chancellor to discontinue student maintenance grants, support for the most disadvantaged students is all the more required.”
Earlier this year, London Met was shortlisted for a Guardian Higher Education Award in recognition of its outreach work. The University was one of just three to be shortlisted in the Student Diversity and Widening Participation category of the awards, held in March.
London Met's faculty of art, architecture and design - The Cass - is named after Sir John Cass, who is buried in the churchyard of St Mary Matefelon in Whitechapel, just a stone's-throw from the faculty today.
