Nigerian
law graduate at Suss*x University Rachael Owhin has been able to raise
nearly £11,000 in eight days for her Masters degree by setting up a
fundraising page after she was she was turned down for a scholarship
Oxford University. The 23-year-old was offered to study an MSc in
migration studies at the Oxford University in March but her savings and
bank loan would not cover the extortionate tuition fees - a staggering
£18,110. She had saved £6,000 herself, and her mother lent her £2,000,
but she was still £10,000 short.
In a bid to raise enough money, Miss Owhin set up a profile on crowd-funding site Hubbub with the slogan ‘£10,000 in ten days’. She used #Oxford10000 to generate interest on social media, and rewarded people who donated to her cause. She promised that a £10 donation would get a public thank you on Twitter. Donors who gave £1,000 were rewarded with a formal invitation to a dinner at Wolfson College, Oxford.
The
page received 197 donations in just eight days, and her total now
stands at £10,916 - meaning she can afford the tuition fees. One
anonymous donor left £1,002 after seeing the campaign on Twitter.
Her
involvement as a mentor at the Powerlist Foundation - which provides
career support for people from disadvantaged backgrounds - also led to a
generous donation from Dragons Den star Piers Linney, who is one of the
foundation’s trustees.
Miss
Owhin, whose mother works for a charity which helps disadvantaged
children in the UK and Africa fund their education, said: ‘Going to
Oxford is the fulfilment of all my dreams.
‘When
they sent me the offer, they told me to apply for a scholarship for
students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. I thought I had a good
chance of getting the scholarship but in June I found out I didn’t. I
went to the toilet and cried - my dream became a nightmare.
I
had looked at crowd-funding, but I thought it was so ineffective. I
needed serious money. I did some research and decided that with the
right social media campaign it was worth setting up a site. My sister
came up with the hashtag idea in the shower.
On
the first day, one of my Tweets got over 700 retweets - thank god for
Twitter. It’s amazing to see how social media can be used for good.’
Oxford
had no way to help. I’ve called them so often and numerous times
they’ve told me to just apply next year. That’s such a horrible thing to
say, to have only one option.
‘There’s
nothing in place to support minority students that can’t afford the
course. The tuition fees are a huge burden for someone who isn’t
wealthy. £18,000, not to mention living costs, is extortionate. Most
people can’t afford that.’
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