DMU awarded £100,000 by a top bank to support community projects and critical research

De Montfort University, Leicester (DMU) has been awarded £100,000 by Barclays Bank to aid its ongoing drive to support the city of Leicester and the well-being of the local community.

The university has been selected for the funding as part of the bank’s 100x100 Covid-19 Community Relief Fund, created specifically to support Covid-19 work in local communities. The programme, which forms part of its wider Community Aid Package, focuses on supporting UK partners who are meeting the immediate needs of people in local communities, including low-income families, those facing financial hardship, isolated people, and key workers.

Thanks to DMU Local’s early interventions in Leicester’s communities of need and ongoing support in the city, Barclays recognised DMU Local’s ability to mobilise student volunteers and the collaborative nature of the DMU Community Solution Programme, to unite researchers and communities around the common purpose of recovery as a key factor in their investment.

Through the DMU Local team, the award of £100,000 will allow DMU to continue to grow its delivery of on-the-ground support to communities impacted by Covid-19 as well as supporting critical Covid-19 research within the university over the coming months.

Sarah Thomson Director of Social Impact and Engagement said: “This is a significant result for the university which has allowed us to demonstrate the effectiveness of our public engagement in a time of crisis and attracted funding that will allow us to develop the university’s responses to Covid-19 further.

“Winning a high-profile supporter like Barclays is a major vote of confidence in the university, its students and researchers to deliver work that will make a long-lasting difference with our local communities.”

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic DMU has used its position as an anchor institution for Leicester to lead a programme to enable its communities to follow the United Nations’ (UN) call to ‘build back better’.

Enabled by volunteers, offering a range of support from delivering food parcels to creating and distributing PPE equipment and delivering online arts sessions for children in deprived areas, the university continues to build on immediate crisis initiatives to support the local community.

The work delivered by DMU is also part of its responsibilities as the United Nations Global Academic Impact hub for the Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, which the university continues to strive towards through its research, teaching and support of the local community.