Some 16 years, several kgs and one baby since the last time I completed the Great North Run - I'm attempting to do it again! This year I'll be running for Team Newcastle, raising money for our student support fund. This provides things like access and participation scholarships and bursaries, hardship funding, IT equipment, food supplies, course materials, books and much more.

I was fortunate to benefit from a university education - it gave me much more than a working knowledge of the Kreb's Cycle, but friends for life, as well as opening my eyes to opportunities I didn't even think were possible for somebody like me. If I had to face higher education as it is today, I don't know if it would have been an option for me.

Your donations will help to make a university education accessible to people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds - in some North-East neighborhoods only 12% of pupils progress to university, compared with the national average of 44%. Your support will also help people fleeing war and conflict to continue their studies.

We don't want any student to miss out on what makes belonging to Newcastle University so special. Your support will help change the course of a young person’s life and set them up for a future they might not otherwise have even dreamed of.