A Christmas raffle has been launched in aid of a bursary for Senior Freshers from Trinity Access Programme who are preparing to sit the Foundation Scholarship exams in 2024/2025.
This fund has been organised by the newly formed Inclusion and Diversity Scholars’ Subcommittee. Scholarships will be on offer to the ‘region of €500’.
The Inclusion and Diversity Scholars subcommittee was formed by the mandate from a popular vote that took place at a scholars’ Annual General Meeting in October.
The programme is due to commence in the upcoming academic year (2024/2025). It will offer bursaries in the region of €500 to second year TAP students studying for the annual Foundation Scholarship examinations.
Raffle prizes offered include a €150 voucher for the restaurant Pichet on Trinity Street, a €60 gift box from Baressential, vouchers from the coffee shops Tang, Coffee Angel and KC Peaches, a board games hamper, and a choice between a free yoga, pilates, or climbing course from Trinity Sport gym. A pair of raffle tickets costs €5.
Tickets can be purchased online by donating through the following GoFundMe link: https://gofund.me/45020948.
Former student journalists have previously described Schols as ‘an elitist institution’, adding that ‘the award is incompatible with modern conceptions of equality and diversity’. It is the hope of the new Inclusivity and Diversity Scholars’ Subcommittee to change the socioeconomic barriers to participation in the scholarship exams Many students state that a cause for the elitism of the foundation scholarship exams is that those from lower incomes backgrounds cannot give up their jobs to find time to study for the foundation exams. Those excluded from participating in the exams refer to the lack of time they have to prepare for optional rigorous examinations, due to needing extra income to finance their studies.
The Trinity Access Program offers ‘a range of access programmes for people with the enthusiasm, motivation, and ability to succeed at third-level’, and engages with ‘communities and schools in low progression areas to encourage a positive mindset and support real steps towards going to University’.
Playwright Samuel Beckett and former president Mary Robinson are among the previous recipients of Trinity’s Foundation Scholarship. Students awarded the scholarship are entitled to free accommodation, free fees, dinner five days a week (commons) and a €254 annual salary.
Readers on a budget can purchase a single raffle ticket for €2.50, by paying in cash in the Foyer after commons at 7pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the first teaching week of Hilary Term. The raffle winners will be announced on Friday, January 27th. Prize winners will be contacted via email.
