{"id":6853,"date":"2020-11-25T11:35:50","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T11:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?p=6853"},"modified":"2020-11-25T11:50:18","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T11:50:18","slug":"an-unpredictable-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2020\/11\/25\/an-unpredictable-year\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unpredictable Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Olivia, a third-year undergraduate student at Reading, opens up about the unforeseen financial challenges the pandemic has created for her, and how crucial the support of donors has been in completing her university journey.<\/span><\/p>\n

Olivia tells CONNECTED how she applied to the University\u2019s Student Support Fund<\/a> \u2013 which provides emergency grants to students in unexpected financial crisis \u2013 because she found her debt building up after losing her part-time job during the UK’s first national lockdown.<\/p>\n

She explained: \u201cI\u2019m in my third year of study at Reading and for the last two years I\u2019ve had a part-time job working at a shop in the Oracle shopping centre, in the town centre. I worked one evening a week, and at weekends, and I used to do a lot of overtime shifts as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey paid well and this job was vital to my being able to make ends meet; my student loan almost covered my rent, but left me with no money to live off. So my income paid for the rest of my rent, my groceries, my phone bill and all my other everyday essentials.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cBut I was on a zero hours contract, as many students typically are. When lockdown began I was simply not given any more work. I really needed that job, but was left with nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Paying the rent<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Olivia moved back home over the summer to save money, but still needed to find a way to pay the deposit and rent for her student house the next term. The pandemic had also taken its toll on her parents and she wasn\u2019t able to ask them for extra help.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI moved back home to live with my parents over the summer, but my landlord required the deposit, plus one month\u2019s rent upfront in August for the student house I\u2019d be living in for my final year.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThat was a huge amount to pay out when I wasn\u2019t working and couldn\u2019t ask my parents for help \u2013 this year hasn\u2019t been easy on them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cMy dad had to leave his job due to extreme stress, and my mum works part-time as a supply teacher and is only getting occasional work at the moment. I know they really want to help me, but are just not in a position to do so.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI had to use my maximum overdraft to afford my rent and my debt just kept building up.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Trying to find a way<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Olivia didn\u2019t give up hope of finding a job to ease her money worries and is still persevering in her search.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI had hoped to find work again this term but nowhere is hiring. My old employer is now only interested in hiring people who can work more shifts than my timetable allows me to do, and they\u2019ve probably stopped hiring now because of the second national lockdown.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been looking at the University\u2019s Campus Jobs but there isn\u2019t much available, and when there is there are so many people applying that I\u2019m not getting through to the interview stage. It\u2019s really frustrating \u2013 I want to work but there is nothing out there.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI\u2019m staying hopeful that something will come up, because I\u2019ve got this far in my studies. I really want to get to graduate now \u2013 I can\u2019t fall at the last hurdle because of my financial situation. I\u2019m doing all I can to find work, but the pandemic has made that pretty much impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Providing some certainty<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Having exhausted all of her other options, Olivia applied to the Student Support Fund and found the help she needed.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI\u2019d like to say a big thank you to the donors who have supported me. Everything is unpredictable at the moment, and amongst all this uncertainty it\u2019s reassuring to have this help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will mainly use the money I\u2019ve received to pay my rent which always has to be paid in advance, and to clear the debt I\u2019ve built up since losing my job.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI now feel financially covered for this term. It\u2019s made a big difference and I\u2019m so relieved that I can now focus on my final year of studies.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Supporting students<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Unfortunately there are more students finding themselves in desperate financial situations as a result of the pandemic \u2013 similar to Olivia\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The Student Support Fund provides emergency grants to students in unexpected financial crisis; when they have run out of other options and dropping out of university is a very real possibility for them.<\/p>\n

Find out more about our\u00a0Student Hardship Appeal<\/a>, or how you can\u00a0get involved<\/a>, through the IMAGINE campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olivia, a third-year undergraduate student at Reading, opens up about the unforeseen financial challenges the pandemic has created for her, and how crucial the support of donors has been in completing her university journey. Olivia tells CONNECTED how she applied to the University\u2019s Student Support Fund \u2013 which provides emergency grants to students in unexpected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":6873,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,22,27,32,94,112,62],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAn Unpredictable Year - Connected<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Undergraduate student, Olivia, opens up about the financial challenges the pandemic has created for her, and how crucial the support of donors has been.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2020\/11\/25\/an-unpredictable-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Unpredictable Year - 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