Support us

Support UWS with a regular gift and become a Patron of the UWS Development Fund. You can join from just £5 per month.

The UWS Development Fund is supported by gifts from the UWS community. Whether you’d like to give back to the University or are inspired to support our journey, your donations - no matter how big or small – will support our students to have an outstanding experience at UWS.

Projects Funded by the UWS Development Fund
Benefitting students across all five of our unique campuses, your gifts are helping to:

• Alleviate financial hardship of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing them with the financial security they need to study confidently at UWS.
• Provide funding to support student-led clubs and societies, allowing students to invest in their passions, develop new skills and establish life-long friendships.
• Enhance our campus facilities to create inspiring spaces for our students to learn, collaborate and socialise.

What Your Giving Can Achieve
Our students are at the heart of what we do, and your regular gift will help us widen participation and nurture talent, enabling students to thrive in their education.

• £10 monthly gift could support the start-up of a new student-led club or society
• £15 monthly gift could fund essential kit or equipment for a UWS sports team
• £50 monthly gift from two alumni or friends could fund a scholarship to support a student from a low-income background for a whole year

At UWS, we believe financial restrictions should never be a barrier to education. We are committed to removing the financial barriers that stop talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds choosing a university education and progressing throughout their degree to graduation.

We are proud to have launched the WEST (Widening Education and Supporting Talent) Scholarship Fund and we are calling upon the support of our alumni and friends to help us realise ambitious plans to increase the number of students we can support.

Committed to Widening Participation
UWS is proud to have the largest intake of students from SIMD20 backgrounds in Scotland (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation worst affected 20%) welcoming over 3,600 students from these backgrounds per year.

Many of our students join UWS from non-traditional backgrounds including mature students, single parents and those who are under-represented in their subject areas.

The last few years have been challenging for us all and with the ongoing uncertainty around the rising cost of living, students need our support now more than ever.

Supporting Students Who Need It Most 
Our scholarship selection process is targeted towards supporting students who need it the most. Many of our students are the first in their families to attend university and struggle to maintain study around their family or work commitments.

We place focus on supporting students from the lowest family income brackets, those who come from a care experienced background or may be estranged from their families.

We know not every student follows the same path from high school and actively encourage applications from students progressing to UWS from college. We currently welcome over a thousand students articulating from colleges in Scotland each year – the most of any Scottish University.

Be part of our journey by making a gift to the WEST Scholarships Fund today. Your gift – no matter how big or small – will support scholarships for students who truly need it most.

If you would like to know more contact: 

Claire Darragh
Individual Giving Manager
claire.darragh@uws.ac.uk

Some of the fondest memories we have of our time at University are those spent at the Union or taking part in clubs and societies. At UWS every Wednesday afternoon is allocated as free from classes for the majority of programmes to ensure our students have the opportunity to take part in sports and social activities.

UWS is proud to have over 40 clubs and societies which provide a supportive community setting for our students to invest in their passions, develop new skills and establish life-long friendships.

Make a recurring gift or single gift to the UWS Development Fund.

Gifts from the UWS Development Fund are supporting the upkeep and growth of our clubs and societies within the UWS Students Union. The Fund works closely with the Union to distribute awards on an application basis once per year to allow clubs and societies to purchase new equipment, kit and arrange activities.

TEAM UWS

Team UWS is responsible for all sporting clubs at the University which provide our students with the opportunity to compete, to train and to socialise. There are over 20 sports clubs at UWS ranging from competitive sport to recreational programmes of health and fitness.

The UWS Development Fund is supporting Team UWS in the delivery and expansion of their sporting programme to ensure our students have unrivalled access to sporting facilities to benefit their physical health and mental well-being.

The last few years have been challenging for us all, and as we welcome more students back to campus, the support of our alumni and friends is needed now more than ever to ensure our students have the opportunity to make memories which last a lifetime.

Many charitable trusts and foundations from across the UK work with UWS to educate, nurture and inspire our 20,000 students. They share our commitment to widening access to higher education.

For eight years, UWS has been recognised as Scotland’s most successful university in ensuring that more people from disadvantaged backgrounds can access higher education (Scottish Funding Council).

Your trust or foundation can make an even bigger impact for our talented students in Ayr, Dumfries, Lanarkshire, London and Paisley.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE TOGETHER
Grants of all sizes are vital to raise student aspirations, develop talent, benefit our communities, and deliver research that tackles global issues.

Partner with us and you could support:

• Scholarships: Remove financial barriers for students from disadvantaged and low-income backgrounds. UWS proudly supports the largest intake of students from the most deprived post code areas in Scotland. You can empower more of these students to access, sustain and complete their studies.
• Breakfast Club: Provide a free, healthy breakfast to all our students. You can help our students to reduce their anxiety over the cost-of-living crisis and food poverty.
• Brodie’s Bikes: Enhance our free bike hire scheme for students. You can enable more young people to travel sustainably and improve their wellbeing.
• Dementia research: Improve quality of life for people with dementia and their carers through the award-winning work of the UWS Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice.
• State-of-the-art facilities: Invest in new teaching, learning and research equipment across our five campuses for our students and academic researchers.

HELP UWS DO ALL THIS AND MORE
Are you a Trustee, or are you connected with a trust or foundation? We would love to discuss how UWS aligns with your charitable mission. Please contact:

Rishaad Ait El Moudden
Trust Fundraising Manager
rishaad.aitelmoudden@uws.ac.uk

THANK YOU!
We are grateful to the following funders, whose generous support has benefited our students, research and community projects in recent years:

• Abbeyfield Research Foundation
• Sylvia Aitken Charitable Trust
• Alzheimer Scotland
• Alzheimer's Society
• Association of Jewish Refugee
• AMW Charitable Trust
• Association of Jewish Refugees
• The Barrack Charitable Trust
• British Council
• British Society of Gerontology
• Burdett Trust for Nursing
• Robert Burns World Federation
• Cargill Thompson Educational & Charitable Trust
• The W A Cargill Fund
• Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland
• The Peter Coats Trust
• The Gordon Cook Foundation
• The Crichton Foundation
• Cunningham Trust
• Cycling Scotland
• Dunhill Medical Trust
• Ernst Maas Educational Trust
• The Hugh Fraser Foundation
• Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity
• The Holywood Trust
• JTH Charitable Trust
• Kells Trust
• Leisure Studies Association
• Life Changes Trust
• R S Macdonald Charitable Trust
• The W M Mann Foundation
• John Mather Trust
• The McGlashan Charitable Trust
• MEB Charitable Trust
• The Mickel Fund
• Netherlee and Clarkston Charitable Trust
• Observatory for Sport, Scotland
• Paisley Hammermen Society
• Physiological Society
• Royal Society (Entrepreneur in Residence Scheme)
• The Thomas and Margaret Roddan Trust
• Scottish Care
• Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
• Social History Society
• Society for Reproduction & Fertility
• Spirit of 2012
• Reo Stakis Charitable Foundation
• Sylvia Aitken Charitable Trust
• The William Syson Foundation
• Thriplow Charitable Trust
• Versus Arthritis
• Victoria League in Scotland Trust, administered by Foundation Scotland
• Wellcome Trust

University of the West of Scotland is a Registered Scottish Charity. Charity number SC002520. View UWS on OSCR.

Wherever you are in the world, you can make a gift to UWS.

You can send a cheque made payable to 'University of the West of Scotland' to: Fundraising and Alumni, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE.

Taxpayers in the USA can support UWS through the British Schools and Universities Foundation (BSUF) based in New York City. You can donate online by credit card or send a cheque. Please complete the UWS alumni in the USA donation form to accompany your cheque.

Your gift will support new buildings and equipment across our campuses providing state of the art facilities to enhance teaching, learning and research.

We develop research outputs that have a tangible impact on society across the globe. Your gift will support cutting edge facilities, specialist staff and world-leading expertise.

Our vision is to be among the global leaders of excellent, relevant and purposeful research aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We are committed to sustainability and building on our existing research and education strengths, transforming our world and improving lives.

Your gift will support cutting edge equipment, specialist staff and world-leading expertise.

Leaving a gift in your Will to UWS supports the great breadth of our work as all gifts are directed to the MacLean Memorial Endowment Trust.

The MacLean Memorial Endowment Trust invests your gift carefully, gradually growing the capital and generating income to support the University for many generations to come.

Angus MacLean was the first Principal of Paisley Technical School appointed in March 1899. He was a native of Tarbert, Loch Fyne, Scotland and a graduate of the University of Glasgow, where he was a distinguished student of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. A gift from his family started the MacLean Memorial Endowment Trust.

If you are considering support us in this way, please email supportus@uws.ac.uk or call us on 0141 848 3084 for a no obligation conversation. Alternatively, if you are ready to instruct your solicitor, please provide them with the details below.

Scottish Charity number Charity number SC002520

University of the West of Scotland
Paisley Campus,
High Street, Paisley, PA1 2BE.
Scotland
United Kingdom