Thank you for visiting my page.

I am asking for your support for Diana, a talented and committed young woman dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children and young people by becoming an NHS Paediatrician. Diana spent her teenage years with many different foster carers and is keen to use her experience to support others in similar circumstances. As part of her journey to becoming a Doctor, she is working in a children’s residential facility, and whilst undertaking her undergraduate degree; she volunteered with the NSPCC and Childline. Diana has demonstrated her resilience, commitment and academic ability to deliver on her ambitions, resulting in her being awarded the Outstanding Individual Learner of the Year award in the 2019 Festival of Learning hosted by the Learning and Work Institute and the Department for Education. The Festival of Learning made this video https://youtu.be/FTOYIYby1wM; it provides an insight into who Diana is, her motivation and the challenges she has faced to get to this stage in her life.

My name is Rebecca Harriott. I retired from a career in NHS finance & leadership in 2017, most recently as a CCG Chief Executive in Devon. Since then, I have supported a charity called 1MM (1 million mentors); this is how I met Diana. Getting through medical school is exceptionally hard, even with financial support from the state and/or your family. Diana has neither of these. I believe she deserves our support at this current stage of her journey.

I have had the privilege to be Diana's mentor for the last two years. During that time she has completed a Medical Science degree at De Montfort University and undertaken the 1st year of a four-year graduate entry medicine degree with New Vision University based in Derby. Diana has exhausted all student loans to get to this point and is now entirely self-funded. She works as a children's residential support worker and has a regular income as a tutor for younger children whilst also studying medicine. The income from these roles has to cover all tuition fees and living expenses. At this point in the degree course, and with living expenses increasing, Diana is struggling to devote sufficient time to study due to the full-time nature of the two job roles she is undertaking. This fundraiser is intended to provide funding to pay for the tuition/clinical placement costs, which are £5000 per term. I have set the target to fund five terms, taking us from the next payment due in December 2022 to the summer of 2025. Diana will continue to work to pay for her living expenses but with reduced hours to facilitate more studying time.

The words below are Diana's, and they provide some further insight into her motivation:

"Education was my focus and I saw it as a way out of my difficult experiences living at home. When taken into care, moving 12 different times over a short space of time was challenging and I didn’t get the support that I needed. It really got me down but also motivated me to do more and be the best that I could possibly be.

I learnt how to play a number of instruments including the piano, flute, guitar, alto saxophone, drums, clarinet and the violin. Learning to play different instruments and being part of the Thurrock Youth Orchestra was great. It made me feel like I belonged somewhere and reduced my social anxiety.

I am an NSPCC ambassador and member of their youth advisory board as I believe young people’s voices in the community should be heard. I am also a Childline volunteer which is a role I’m really proud of given my childhood experiences. I want to be a good role model for people who have had similar experiences to mine.

Being in care wasn’t easy. I had to move a lot during crucial educational years. I did well in my GCSE’s achieving 10 A*-B grades and sixth form had also started off well, but I then had to deal with a lot of trauma and it took a massive toll on my mental health. I had to go to a new college and even retake year 12. Despite all that, I really wanted to go to university, so I tried to compensate for the retake and took on plenty of medical work experience. I always wanted to be a doctor and getting hands-on experience just reinforced that, so my efforts have definitely paid off.

It means a lot to me that I can study, as it also means that I am getting closer to where I want to be. Still, before coming here I was worried. Mainly because I didn’t know how I would cope with my flatmates having their families over... It happens often and it makes me really upset because it’s something I wish I had. Sometimes, I go over and say hi, but sometimes I just make plans and go out for the day.

Education was always important to me and university is my second chance to fulfil my potential. To me, going to university means I will be free. I can get a well paid job and save up for my own place. I can become a paediatrician and that’s where my motivation comes from "

I hope that having read the above, you feel like I do, that Diana deserves a helping hand at this moment in her life. If so, I would be very grateful for any donation you can make. The donations will go straight to Diana from Gofundme. I am conscious that there are no guarantees for people making donations; it is an act of faith and generosity. I can only say that I have confidence in Diana’s ability, commitment and resilience; becoming a Doctor is her way to secure her future security and independence - with a little help from us.

It would also be immensely helpful if you would share this fundraiser with your contacts on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, email etc

Thank you.