13 Sep 2023
Over the next five years, the Ragdoll Foundation is set to offer crucial financial and career assistance to 30 students from underrepresented backgrounds. A gift of £195,000 to the University of Sheffield will support scholarships and employability initiatives to help to level the playing field for students most in need.
The University of Sheffield has a longstanding commitment to attracting and supporting students from lower income and underrepresented backgrounds, and is passionate about providing equal opportunities for all.
The Ragdoll Foundation Scholarship and Employability Programme at Sheffield will create four new undergraduate and two new postgraduate scholarships each year for the next five years. Ragdoll Foundation Scholars will also receive bespoke careers coaching, internship opportunities in local small and midsize enterprises (SMEs), and employability funding – giving them the best possible chance of building successful, fulfilling careers after graduating.
With a focus on widening participation amongst underrepresented groups, the initiative is particularly keen to support young women and students from the North East of England who want to take on a degree with a strong creative element. Eligible disciplines include English, Modern Languages, Music, Architecture, Landscape, Marketing, Education, Philosophy, Urban & Planning Studies, and Archaeology.
Ragdoll Foundation founder and Sheffield alumna, Dr Anne Wood CBE (HonLittD 2014), is the visionary behind the Ragdoll Foundation and creator of iconic and innovative children’s programmes such as Teletubbies and In the Night Garden through her company, Ragdoll Productions. Anne deeply understands the value of this shared mission to create a climate of equal opportunities for all and is passionate about giving young people a voice.
I have long admired the University of Sheffield’s history and its record of enabling students from less secure economic backgrounds to achieve their full potential. As a girl growing up in the 1950s in the North East of England, options were limited. It gives me great personal pleasure now to be able to make a contribution towards lifting those limits and encouraging bigger creative aspirations for today’s students.”
Dr Anne Wood CBE, founder, the Ragdoll Foundation.
Find out more about this new programme.
Download the full press release.
Photography: copyright © The University of Sheffield
