UWC Atlantic College Place
Donation protected
UPDATE 3 Wednesday 24th April
Today I received a further £6,000 scholarship. My target has now been reduced to a total of £14,000
UPDATE 2 Friday 19th April
Incredible news. My mother has this morning been notified that we have a further £6,000 a year scholarship awarded by the British UWC committee. This means that I now need to raise £10,000 a year, £20,000 in total.
UPDATE Thursday 18th April
I am SO pleased to say that I have received a scholarship equivalent to 50% of the fees. I have reduced the target to £32,000 to reflect this. This is amazing but I still need to raise £16,000 a year to be able to take up my place.
I am a 16 year old from Llanelli, South Wales and having attended a UWC short course last year in Malta I have just been offered a place at UWC Atlantic College to study from September. Unfortunately the cost will be £32,000 a year, for two years. I have 5 sisters and my parents do not have that kind of money. A UWC education is free for the majority of students from across the world, funded by governments, alumni and even some royal families but in the UK it is different. There is only funding for the lowest income families.
What is UWC?
The UWC movement is was founded at Atlantic college after World War II with the aim of educating children from across the world together in order to facilitate understanding, tolerance, and therefore peace. There are now 17 colleges across the world and they are the most prestigious sixth forms in the world. They are world renowned and yet not particularly well known within the UK but they are highly selective. The college I have been nominated for is Atlantic college which is the original UWC college and is here in Britain. If I am able to accept my place I will be one of 100 students from 91 countries starting the IB diploma in September 2019 at Atlantic. What an incredible experience!
Why help me?
On the UWC Summer course I spent two weeks with 22 other young people from 22 countries across the world. A mini-UWC experience and one that has been transformative for me. Centred in the middle of the Mediterranean refugee crisis, in Malta I saw true injustice and the failings of humanity for the first time. During this time I had the opportunity to meet people that have fled violence, discrimination, torture, oppression, enslavement and persecution in their countries and people who have watched others die at sea as they try to seek refuge in Europe. Through talking to these people I learned about the detention camps thousands are being held at in Libya and the horrendous conditions they face inside of them. I also took part in a detention camp simulation where we experienced, on a small scale, some of the awful emotions’ asylum seekers feel inside these camps, potentially for years at a time. I came home angry at the lack of media attention, indeed the complete failing of much of the media to report what is occurring in much detail. Until this course I did not know what I wanted to do with my life, but now I know that international relations is to be my future.
The photo shown here was taken in Malta.
UWC's are not easy but I want to live the experience, I am prepared to be challenged, to work hard, academically and in all social sides, from community work to international understanding. I know that it will be the biggest challenge of my life but will also give me world.
It may seem a bold claim, but I truly believe that with the aid of a UWC education I will be able to truly contribute to changing the world.
Academically I have done well in school, I received 13.5 A's & A*'s in my GCSE's last year, but what Atlantic college can give me goes far beyond the academic.
If you could like to find out more about UWC please see uwc.org
If you would like to read a piece I have written about my experience taking part in the Auschwitz project which also reflects on my experience in Malta please see my blog ellamay.me.uk which I also intend to use to document my journey through UWC and beyond.
I cannot express how much it would mean to me if I were to attend the college. Asking for help with education seems somewhat frivolous compared to the injustices that I have viewed and I do not know if I have any chance of meeting this target, but if anyone can help I would be so grateful and I will make it my life's work to use the education I receive to improve the lives of those facing persecution, whether with through politics or my writing, working with NGO's or charities.
If there are any companies or organisations who would be willing to sponsor me in return for updates, written pieces, vlogs or talks, I would be very happy to hear from you.
What if you donate but I do not meet my target?
My aim is to go to Atlantic college in September but in case that is impossible, I am sitting my SAT's in June to apply to Harvard for September 2020 entry. Any funds donated will be used towards my education, whether UWC, Harvard, another UWC short course or elsewhere and this page and my blog will be updated regularly so that you can see what I achieve.
Today I received a further £6,000 scholarship. My target has now been reduced to a total of £14,000
UPDATE 2 Friday 19th April
Incredible news. My mother has this morning been notified that we have a further £6,000 a year scholarship awarded by the British UWC committee. This means that I now need to raise £10,000 a year, £20,000 in total.
UPDATE Thursday 18th April
I am SO pleased to say that I have received a scholarship equivalent to 50% of the fees. I have reduced the target to £32,000 to reflect this. This is amazing but I still need to raise £16,000 a year to be able to take up my place.
I am a 16 year old from Llanelli, South Wales and having attended a UWC short course last year in Malta I have just been offered a place at UWC Atlantic College to study from September. Unfortunately the cost will be £32,000 a year, for two years. I have 5 sisters and my parents do not have that kind of money. A UWC education is free for the majority of students from across the world, funded by governments, alumni and even some royal families but in the UK it is different. There is only funding for the lowest income families.
What is UWC?
The UWC movement is was founded at Atlantic college after World War II with the aim of educating children from across the world together in order to facilitate understanding, tolerance, and therefore peace. There are now 17 colleges across the world and they are the most prestigious sixth forms in the world. They are world renowned and yet not particularly well known within the UK but they are highly selective. The college I have been nominated for is Atlantic college which is the original UWC college and is here in Britain. If I am able to accept my place I will be one of 100 students from 91 countries starting the IB diploma in September 2019 at Atlantic. What an incredible experience!
Why help me?
On the UWC Summer course I spent two weeks with 22 other young people from 22 countries across the world. A mini-UWC experience and one that has been transformative for me. Centred in the middle of the Mediterranean refugee crisis, in Malta I saw true injustice and the failings of humanity for the first time. During this time I had the opportunity to meet people that have fled violence, discrimination, torture, oppression, enslavement and persecution in their countries and people who have watched others die at sea as they try to seek refuge in Europe. Through talking to these people I learned about the detention camps thousands are being held at in Libya and the horrendous conditions they face inside of them. I also took part in a detention camp simulation where we experienced, on a small scale, some of the awful emotions’ asylum seekers feel inside these camps, potentially for years at a time. I came home angry at the lack of media attention, indeed the complete failing of much of the media to report what is occurring in much detail. Until this course I did not know what I wanted to do with my life, but now I know that international relations is to be my future.
The photo shown here was taken in Malta.
UWC's are not easy but I want to live the experience, I am prepared to be challenged, to work hard, academically and in all social sides, from community work to international understanding. I know that it will be the biggest challenge of my life but will also give me world.
It may seem a bold claim, but I truly believe that with the aid of a UWC education I will be able to truly contribute to changing the world.
Academically I have done well in school, I received 13.5 A's & A*'s in my GCSE's last year, but what Atlantic college can give me goes far beyond the academic.
If you could like to find out more about UWC please see uwc.org
If you would like to read a piece I have written about my experience taking part in the Auschwitz project which also reflects on my experience in Malta please see my blog ellamay.me.uk which I also intend to use to document my journey through UWC and beyond.
I cannot express how much it would mean to me if I were to attend the college. Asking for help with education seems somewhat frivolous compared to the injustices that I have viewed and I do not know if I have any chance of meeting this target, but if anyone can help I would be so grateful and I will make it my life's work to use the education I receive to improve the lives of those facing persecution, whether with through politics or my writing, working with NGO's or charities.
If there are any companies or organisations who would be willing to sponsor me in return for updates, written pieces, vlogs or talks, I would be very happy to hear from you.
What if you donate but I do not meet my target?
My aim is to go to Atlantic college in September but in case that is impossible, I am sitting my SAT's in June to apply to Harvard for September 2020 entry. Any funds donated will be used towards my education, whether UWC, Harvard, another UWC short course or elsewhere and this page and my blog will be updated regularly so that you can see what I achieve.
Fundraising team (3)
Ellamay O'Driscoll-Silcox
Organizer
Wales
Gemma O’Driscoll
Beneficiary
Gemma O’Driscoll
Team member
Keri Butt
Team member
