The Library here on campus has been working hard with the Student Success Team this year. Lancaster University's Student Success Team delivers activity that supports the attainment, retention and progression of students underrepresented in Higher Education. These activities have been supported by donations from our alumni which have been allocated to projects through our Friends’ Programme.

The Lancaster Success Programme (LSP), is a student-led initiative that aims to engage Widening Participation students in the breadth of support and opportunities available to them at Lancaster. By participating in the programme, students can access 1:1 personal development sessions, group activities, workshops and an enrichment fund.

The enrichment fund is designed to enhance the student experience. Initially, the fund was introduced to help incentivise students to engage in the LSP whilst also providing some extra financial support to students from low-income backgrounds. Thanks to fundraising from the Friends’ Programme, we have been able to help the team offer more support to students through the provision of academic books to support their studies.

In 2020/21, each student was allocated £150 by the University, but with the support of our donors we were able to provide provided an additional £5,000 for on the purchase of academic books.

Students were asked to provide feedback on the LSP towards the end of the Summer Term and as part of this, participants were asked to rank the top three most helpful elements of the programme. 73% of students ranked the enrichment fund in their top three choices. When asked why they had ranked the enrichment fund in their top three choices, the following comments were offered:

• It helped me with any financial problems

• Being someone from a lower-class background, the funds helped me academically and also with personal living

• It helped me make sure that I had the books that I needed for my studies

• Having access to help and different funds has had a huge effect on my experience

The Lancaster Success Programme is an integral part of making Lancaster University the amazing university that it is. Our Friends’ Programme has been able to help students in need and provide them with both physical resources and personal confidence.