{"id":14611,"date":"2025-05-22T07:19:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T07:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?p=14611"},"modified":"2025-05-22T07:25:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T07:25:25","slug":"update-giving-day-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/05\/22\/update-giving-day-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Update &#8211; Giving Day 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 24px\">&#8220;My time at the University of Reading had a big impact on my career and shaped who I am today. I am giving to say thank you &#8211; and to help open doors for the next generation, just like others once did for me.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-14613 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-2-300x187.jpg\" alt=\"Giving Day thank you logo\" width=\"300\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-2-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-2-768x479.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-2-370x231.jpg 370w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-2-270x168.jpg 270w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-2-570x355.jpg 570w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-2-740x461.jpg 740w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-2.jpg 770w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>On Tuesday 29 April, the University of Reading launched its very first Giving Day \u2013 a special 36-hour online event, dedicated to supporting our students, programmes and community. We\u2019re pleased to share that this was a huge success, raising over <strong>\u00a336,000<\/strong> for four great causes. Of the 173 donors who supported Giving Day, an amazing 100 of these donations came from alumni.<\/p>\n<p>Giving has been at the heart of our University community for almost 100 years \u2013 with alumni and supporters helping shape and influence how we have grown into the world-leading institution we are today. The ongoing kindness of our community enables the University to continue to offer exceptional opportunities for our students, lead groundbreaking research and support our local community.<\/p>\n<p>Vice-Chancellor, Professor Robert Van de Noort, expressed his heartfelt thanks:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;I have been blown away by the response to our Giving Day, it\u2019s been wonderful to see our community\u200b\u200b come together.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Thank you to everyone who supported Giving Day, whether that was by donating or spreading the word.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>36 hours to make a difference<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The 36-hour fundraising effort attracted donations from 173 donors in 21 countries to support four causes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Centre for Autism Wellbeing Hub<\/li>\n<li>Entrepreneurship at the Henley Business School<\/li>\n<li>Scholarships<\/li>\n<li>Where the Need is Greatest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here\u2019s what some of our alumni donors had to say about why they supported Giving Day:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiving back on Giving Day is my way of showing gratitude and helping future students access the same incredible opportunities I had. It is also an investment in the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and innovators. Proud to support!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA humble gift to the University that has given so much and prepared so well for tackling life at all levels. My time at Reading was invaluable, and I hope this humble contribution will help in someway the future generations of students achieve their dreams.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cMany of us owe a lot to our university \u2013 friends, loved ones, business networks and more. Reading did so much for me, so this is a small token of gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Giving Day 2025 \u2013 Thank you\" width=\"770\" height=\"433\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6MYEm1RF5y8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Daisy Aylward, Fundraising Officer, said: \u201cIt was amazing to see the University of Reading\u2019s community come together and support our first Giving Day. We received donations from across the globe, from alumni, students, past and current staff, parents, and members of the local community. We are so grateful to everyone who played a part in making Giving Day a success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf the total, \u00a316,000 was added after we successfully completed fundraising challenges, with match funding made possible thanks to a legacy gift from Reading alumnus David Malcolm Smith. An extra \u00a31,000 will also follow thanks to those who were eligible to Gift Aid their donations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daisy shared that Giving Day was also a success in helping to raise awareness. She said: \u201cIt enabled us to reach old and new donors across the world with our message about the University, our community and what Reading is all about.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cOur Giving Day video reached over 1.2m people on social media, and our posts were shared by many students, alumni, staff and supporters throughout the 36-hour period.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Thank you to everyone who supported this fundraising effort. <a href=\"https:\/\/givingday.reading.ac.uk\/\">Find out more about Giving Day 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We welcome your feedback and thoughts on our first ever Giving Day. Email <a href=\"mailto:giving@reading.ac.uk\">giving@reading.ac.uk<\/a> to share your views.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;My time at the University of Reading had a big impact on my career and shaped who I am today. I am giving to say thank you &#8211; and to help open doors for the next generation, just like others once did for me.&#8221;\u00a0 On Tuesday 29 April, the University of Reading launched its very [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":14612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,62,56],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Update - Giving Day 2025 - Connected<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;My time at Reading shaped who I am today. 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