A new funding agreement worth £450k was signed by representatives from Loughborough University with Santander Universities UK on October 16th. Vice-Chancellor Professor Robert Allison and Santander Universities UK Director Matt Hutnell signed the agreement amongst few staff members, students and university alumni. Three years worth of funds is to be provided by Santanders to help support postgraduate scholarships, sports scholarships, entrepreneurship, awards, leadership programs and various employability initiatives.

For more than eleven years, Santander has been supporting Loughborough University and its students, as the University’s representative Professor Allison expressed his gratitude to Santander for their support and admitted that the organization is providing opportunities that would otherwise have not existed. Director Matt Hartnell responded that Santander is proud of the cooperation and intends to support any future partnership opportunities that can benefit students and the local community.

A special panel discussion titled “Being your best self” was chaired by Santander Director Matt Hutnell to commemorate the event. Successful Loughborough alumni from Aston Villa Women and British Triathlon organizations were called upon in the panel to discuss how the funds helped change their lives and gain experience in their work field.

“The Santander scholarship not only helped towards my postgraduate study costs but also gave me the financial freedom to take full advantage of the work experience opportunities I was able to gain through Loughborough University.” British Triathlon spokesman commented.