A study club run by University of Limerick supporting young people by expanding educational opportunities has received a donation from Tesco’s community fund.
Access Campus is a partnership between UL and the Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership (LEDP), dedicated to expanding educational opportunities in Limerick.
The UL Access Campus Study Club was presented with a cheque for €533 by Tesco, Roxboro. The donation was made possible through Tesco’s Stronger Starts programme, where customers use blue tokens at checkout to vote for local causes they wish to support.
The UL Access Campus Study Club’s coordinator, students, and volunteers attended the presentation.
The satellite campus on the city’s Southside provides academic support, outreach programmes, and university-community engagement to help individuals reach their full potential.
Study Club Coordinator Sean Costello explained the donation would “go towards providing food for young people from the local communities attending the Study Club, transporting UL student volunteers to and from Campus.
The funding will also support students from the School of Allied Health - Human Nutrition & Dietetics, Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy - secure additional items which will add value to their interactions with community members while on Practice Education placements in non-clinical settings, such as Access Campus.
“Health promotion is at the core of these placements and learning how to communicate and interact with community members is a key learning linked with these placement periods,” explained Sean.
Dónal O’Leary who runs the UL Access Campus, said: “We are grateful to Tesco and the local community for their support in contributing to the continued success of our Study Club and student placements.”
Since its establishment in November 2003, the Study Club has supported over 1200 young people from marginalised communities to raise their academic achievement and progress to higher and further education.
“On average 95% of our members have progressed to higher education compared to the national progression rate of 20% of students from marginalised communities,” explained Dónal.
“In addition, the Study Club provides to students currently out of school to ensure that they continue to engage with and benefit from education. The Study Club provides academic support alongside social/personal development to ensure that they derive the same benefits from education as their more affluent peers.
“This donation will enable the Access Campus Study Club to continue to support young people from marginalised communities to access and succeed in education, achieving better outcomes and brighter futures not only for themselves but also for successive generations of their families.”
For more, see the UL AccessCampus website.