STUDENTS at a York university who have been hit financially by the Coronavirus pandemic will be able to apply for help to a new emergency fund.

The University of York has launched the Emergency Student Support Fund in response to the outbreak.

The fund, which is being supported through donations from alumni, friends and supporters of the university, will provide bursaries of up to £500 (per applicant) for students facing unanticipated financial challenges due to Covid-19.

It is believed to be one of the first schemes launched in the UK for students.

The fund will help students with housing and food costs, travel expenses, technology costs associated with online learning, and other financial challenges.

All current students who are registered at the University on a degree-awarding programme (undergraduate, post-graduate teaching or post-graduate research, full, or part-time, online/distance learning) are eligible to apply.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Charlie Jeffery said: “The world faces an unprecedented challenge and we are doing all we can to help our students through this incredibly difficult time.

“We are able to react quickly to the crisis because of the support of our very many generous donors who also wish to help those students in greatest need at this time.

“We are keenly aware of how fortunate we are to have such a compassionate community of donors and alumni. We will release the funding in several rounds in order to ensure that those in most need are able to receive the assistance that they require.”

 Mary Haworth, Director of Philanthropic Partnerships and Alumni added: “We are so grateful to the community of benefactors who have made it possible for us to provide immediate assistance to our students. We will monitor the requests for emergency funding from our students over the coming weeks and will try our best to respond in a timely way to help with some of the financial pressures that our UK and overseas students might face as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Full details and the application form will be available from 5pm Wednesday 25 March 2020. Funds will be released in rounds, with the first round closing to applications at 5pm Wednesday, April 1.

Further application deadlines will be announced based upon the demand for funding.

Each application will be assessed on its own merits, but students in the following groups will be given priority where demand exceeds the funding available, round by round: 

  •        Care leavers and care experienced students
  •        Estranged students
  •        Students currently studying on a medical or nursing programme or midwifery programme (excluding apprenticeships)
  •        Students with children
  •        Students with disabilities and long term health conditions
  •        Student with refugee or asylum-seeker status
  •        Students who are carers

Click here for the application form.