Sunday 6th September marks the start of our latest Universify Fundraiser Challenge The London to Cambridge Challenge! We are raising money to celebrate extending our programme beyond Oxford with our first ever Cambridge course, hosted by St Catharines College, Cambridge. We had planned to take part in the London to Cambridge cycle, but given the ongoing lockdown weve adapted our plans, as we did our programme, and are challenging one and all to cover the distance (60 miles) in a month!

Why are we raising money?

With the closure of schools and cancellation of exams a young person's background (parental income, ethnicity, where they live and go to school) will be even more important in determining whether theyre likely to go to university or not. Even before lockdown, the recent Fair Education Alliance report showed that reductions in the education disadvantage gap in England have not just slowed, but in fact the gap is widening at the early years, primary school and secondary school level.

Our year-long programme aims to tackle this problem by giving Year 10-11 students from non-selective state schools the opportunity to experience university. On our programme, students learn from the experiences of university students, experience University-level teaching and receive 1-on-1 coaching throughout the year to raise aspirations and attainment early, in order to increase the likelihood of individuals making a successful application to a highly selective university.

After delivering our programme in Oxford for four years we're expanding our programme to Cambridge to work with more young people, to help them achieve their potential in education. As we continue to grow our programme we need your help to raise money to provide our programme to more students. £650 funds one student on the year long programme and we are hoping to raise enough for 7 students, just over £4500, which makes up a third of our cohort on our Cambridge programme this year.

What is the London to Cambridge challenge?

Cover the 60 mile distance from London to Cambridge over a month, either as an individual or a team. You can do the whole distance all in one go or split it into sections to complete each day. So whether you walk it, run it, cycle it, swim it, or horse ride, get involved by joining our justgiving campaign and get sponsored to go the distance!

Along the way well celebrate your milestones with you, keeping track using the app, Strava. Youll receive a shoutout on our social media for:

- First £60 raised

- Every 60 miles covered

- The individual who covers the distance in the shortest amount of time

- The team who covers the greatest number of trips to Cambridge!

How do I join in?

Let us know that youre joining in by emailing us at info@universifyeducation.com or join the Strava group and well send you an info pack