Page 15 - act-annual-review-2022-2023

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Page 15 - act-annual-review-2022-2023
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SPOTLIGHT ON IMPROVING ACCESS TO THE RVC





            For some people, an education at the              ACT Sylvanus Scholar Salsabil Houdane said,       ACT Catt Scholar Amber graduated in July 2023
            RVC and dreams of becoming a vet, vet             ֱThis scholarship has genuinely meant the         and said, ֱIt is difficult to express my gratitude for
            nurse or scientist can seem unattainable,         world to me as my biggest stress factor about     my scholarship ֱ without this help, I would not
            largely because of the costs. The RVC             university was the financial aspect of it. Without   have been able to continue studying and my life
            has a number of strategies to address             a scholarship, I had been planning on finding     would look very different now. The scholarship
            this and thereby improve diversity in the         several part-time jobs to aid in funding my       has not only helped me massively but itֱs also
            veterinary sector. We support the RVC in          studies, however now, I know I can focus more     helped my mum. Being a single mum and
            its aim to remove barriers and do this in         on my studies.ֱ                                   medically retired she naturally worried about
            several ways.                                     Encouraging future students                       me getting through university without financial
            Supporting the Gateway Programme                  Thanks to donations made in memory of RVC         support. The scholarship helped relieve this worry
                                                                                                                for us both. I would not be a veterinary nurse
            Until 2005 there was significant concern that     alumnus, Ho Mah Soon, we were delighted to        without the Catt Scholarship, I really do owe my
            young people from certain socio-economic          support the Animal Aspirations group by funding   future career to the generosity of Elizabeth Catt.ֱ
            backgrounds were either not applying to or        an event for young people from ethnically diverse
            not being accepted by vet schools. The RVC        backgrounds. The children were invited to the RVC
            therefore launched the pioneering Gateway         to learn about different animal related careers,
            Programme, effectively a preparation year         get hands on experience with real dogs, horses
            between A-levels and the BVetMed degree,          and calves and examine specimens in our Bone
            to offer students who may have been               Museum. These events open up the veterinary and
            educationally disadvantaged, the opportunity      science worlds to young people at a time when
            to be better prepared for the course.             they are considering their futures and we hope to
                                                              welcome some of our attendees in the future.
            Whilst this has succeeded in opening up
            the veterinary sector to a large number of        Scholarships ֱ removing financial
            students (currently 50 per year), it adds an      barriers to education
            additional year onto an already long, five-       We were truly touched to receive a legacy from
            year course and many students struggle            ACT supporter, Elizabeth Catt, who wanted to
            financially. We were delighted when               help young people pursue careers to help animals.
            the Sylvanus Trust agreed to fund two             Elizabeth had wanted to become a vet but was
            scholarships for the Gateway Programme            not able to do so. We created the ACT Catt
            and they have made a tremendous                   Scholarship to support those wanting to become
            difference to the recipients.                     veterinary nurses.



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