Alumnae and parents donate over £100,000 in Withington’s first telephone campaign.

From 29th August to 11th September, thirteen of Withington’s recent leavers returned to the school to take part in this new initiative. During the campaign, the girls phoned former pupils and current parents to hear news of activities and to update them on the Nurturing Potential Bursary Fund and the Enhancing Opportunities Annual Fund.

The response to the telephone campaign was outstanding, with over £100,000 raised over the two weeks. Half of those spoken to donated towards the campaign demonstrating the extreme generosity of current parents and alumnae. This will help finance all three Enhancing Opportunity projects and one full means-tested Bursary, enabling one more bright girl next year to receive a life changing education at Withington despite her family’s financial situation. The callers loved hearing many entertaining stories from Withington’s alumnae about the antics they got up to whilst at school. Malak said, “I really loved speaking to all the alumnae, some of them do the coolest jobs ever, and even the ones who didn’t donate gave such good advice. I had a lovely conversation with them all.”

Our callers also collected information on alumnae to keep track of what Withington’s old girls have been up to since leaving the School. Many agreed to be career mentors for current pupils and recent leavers, so girls can benefit from advice given by someone in their field of interest. Indeed, Deevia said, “I was able to gain lots of valuable career advice whilst raising money for the appeal at the same time.”

Clare Flynn is Development Director and organised the campaign: “Thank you very much to all those who took part in the Telephone Campaign. It has been good to hear of current activities and wonderful to witness the generosity of alumnae and parents – a real testament to the strength of the Withington community. We could not offer these stretch experiences and bursary opportunities to pupils without your support. Thank you.”

Following the success of the 100 Plus Bursary Appeal, where the School reached its £2 million target, the Development Office’s next goal is to provide needs-blind admission whereby any pupil will be able to attend the School regardless of her family’s financial situation. Core to its ethos, the Bursary programme helps maintain the diversity which has been celebrated at Withington for many years, recognising that Bursary recipients bring unique qualities to the school.

Withington is also raising funds for Enhancing Opportunities, a set of three projects in 2013 designed to enhance the learning opportunities of all girls in School. The Appeal aims to raise £50,000 by December 2012 to fund new projects for completion this academic year. All three projects have been identified by pupils and staff to provide the best learning opportunities for all girls into their futures beyond Withington:

– The Arvon Foundation residential writing course will enable a group of girls in the sixth form to develop their creative writing skills by working with some of the UK’s most celebrated published writers.

– A state-of-the-art laser cutter will allow girls to learn crucial skills needed in our increasingly technological world, and hopefully encourage more girls to enter typically male-dominated industries such as engineering.

– A full-size classical Pedal Harp will bring this unique instrument to even more pupils and encourage budding young musicians to hone their skills further.

For further information on the Bursary Fund or the Annual Fund, please contact the Development Office.