Supporting Ukrainian students

Date: May 2023

Meet Yelyzaveta, a Ukrainian Scholarship awardee

Nineteen year old Yelyzaveta from Kherson, Ukraine joined us this year to study Accounting and Finance.  From a young age, Yelyzaveta had wanted to study in the UK in order to get the best education she could and spent 5 years at school in Scotland before the Ukrainian/Russian war threatened her dreams.

"The war met my family unpredictably. On 24 February my city was fully occupied by Russian forces. My brother and mum were forced to flee under the scheme 'Homes for Ukraine'. This was really devastating to us as we lost our home and my family lost practically everything."

Thanks to generous donations made by our alumni, supporters and friends to the University’s Student Opportunities Fund we were able to offer a scholarship to contribute towards Yelyzaveta’s tuition fees and living costs.  The scholarship has meant that she is able to continue her dream of a UK education and she is wholeheartedly embracing University life and is a member of the Finance Society as well as trying out for the ballet and swimming teams.  In addition to her sporting activities, Yelyzaveta recently won a Bright Ideas Challenge. 

"I hope I will now be able to take my business idea to the next level and help households in the UK to save money on energy prices. I would really like to offer my thanks for giving me a chance at studying and pursuing my education. I could not dream of having such an awesome chance, during such challenging times!"

Through our Scholar Networking Event, Yelyzaveta has had the opportunity to meet and get to know the three other Ukrainian Scholarship awardees as well as other scholars across the University. Through these events, we encourage scholars to get to know each other, inform them of the support we offer and also congratulate them on their achievements!

Yelyzaveta is embracing all the opportunities that Durham is giving her and she has recently been selected as a joint winner of Hild Bede’s Michael Bruce Essay Writing Competition. Congratulations Yelyzaveta!

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