National Big Give Christmas Challenge pledge doubles all donations to University of the Highlands and Islands Scholarship Fund

The University of the Highlands and Islands’ crowd funded scholarship programme has been given a boost this week, having been accepted for support through the Big Give Christmas Challenge which runs 4, 5 and 6 December.

With over a quarter of the funds already secured towards the campaign total, the Big Give will double donations and organisers hope to move the campaign over the half way mark by Christmas.

The Big Give showcases the work of over 9,500 charities and has already helped to raise over £50million. It runs a wide variety of innovative programmes which help charities raise further income whilst enabling donors to increase the impact of their donations.

Matched funds will be released at 10am on the morning of the 4, 5 and 6 December.  Online donations are matched on a first come, first served basis and online donations will be matched as long as there are matched funds still available. Donors should try to make their online donation as close to 10am on these three mornings as possible. The Christmas Challenge will conclude once all of the matched funds have been exhausted. In the event that matched funds continue to remain available, the Christmas Challenge will finally close on 17 December at 5pm.

Over a quarter of the target has already been donated towards the appeal and the University of the Highlands and Islands Development team are particularly interested in encouraging smaller businesses to consider the impact their donations can make on university students. Donations to date have come from Tomatin Distillery, SSE, SGL Carbon Fibers Ltd and LifeScan Scotland.

Nuala Boyle, Director of Development at the University of the Highlands and Islands said: “We’ve already received a number of donations towards the £100,000 appeal and hope that those considering supporting the university will dig deep this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Match funding is a great way to double the donations and we’re hopeful of more momentum towards our target with this extra support.”

Businesses and individuals can invest in their local university and in talent to help transform lives and businesses through the University of the Highlands and Islands Scholarship Fund.