In June 2024 I completed a Master of Fine Art in Painting at Slade School of Fine Art (University College London) with distinction.

Deciding to do a Masters was a long-time coming; it took me six years, but I finally got there! Finding the right school at the right time for my art practice and for my person was important. The financial uncertainties and incredible costs of higher education were always a worry, and for my personal circumstances, seeking charitable funding was going to be my only means of affording to continue education. 

Slade School of Fine Art has an incredible history as an art school and was one of the first to accept women back in 1871, helping introduce women to the wider University College London (the place of ‘disruptive thinking since 1826’) which Slade is part of. 

My first year at Slade was a time of huge change in my making practice, fuelled by experimentation, embracing failure, and discovering a confidence in the artistic choices I was making. The teaching and environment of Slade really nurtured my artistic language, especially in the first year, which inspired an independent and driven practice in my second year. I was often anxious about my progress due to my necessary work commitments, which limited my time in the studio, but in many ways I think this restriction of time enhanced my focus and determination, knowing studio time was precious. 

My presentation of work in the Slade MA/MFA Degree Show (June 2024) was a wonderful experience - creating a site-specific installation. The Degree Show was not only a chance to create an ambitious body of work but was a celebration with a very close peer-group at a very special school.

I cannot express deeply enough how much the Reid Trust helped me through my degree. Of course, financially in support of my fees, which often felt like an impossibility, but also psychologically and emotionally - having the knowledge that a generous group of people believed in me in a tangible way, inspired me and gave me the confidence that I could earn this degree, and regardless of financial background and circumstance, deserved to be on the course. It is so important trusts like the Reid Trust exist, their work is so fundamental and changes the lives of women.

I was very generously awarded a grant by the Reid Trust in 2021 to support my PhD in History at King’s College London. As a self-funded student in precarious employment, this financial support made a huge difference to my ability to develop and succeed during the crucial early stages of my PhD project - Death as an institution: managing the anonymous dead at the morgues of Paris and New York, c. 1864- 1914. 

By supporting the cost of my tuition fees, the award enabled me to dedicate additional time and attention to my research, time that would otherwise have been spent on unrelated professional work. As a result, since July 2021 I have made significant progress both towards my PhD, and my future career in academia. I passed my upgrade to PhD Candidate status in March 2022 with extremely positive feedback from the panel, and alongside my research I have delivered papers at seven conferences in the UK and the USA, had two journal articles accepted for publication, and am currently awaiting the decision on a third. During this period, I have also written a book chapter for an academic publication, organised an international conference, and delivered public talks on my research for audiences in London, Paris and New York. I am hugely grateful to the Reid Trust for their support and generosity in helping women like myself succeed in academic endeavours.

I was awarded funding towards my MSc in Applied Mathematics at Imperial College, London. This involved modules in fluid mechanics, vortex dynamics, applied complex analysis, asymptotic analysis, partial differential equations, classical dynamics, and general relativity. My master’s thesis focused on wave phenomena called bound states in the continuum, using asymptotic analysis. Bound states in the continuum have a wide range of applications, from lasers to optics! I have now been offered a fully funded studentship for a PhD in Mathematics at University College London (UCL), which I have accepted.

I would like to say thank you to the Reid Trust for awarding me the grant. The funding meant I could complete my master’s degree without taking a part-time job – allowing me to focus all my time on studying. The master’s at Imperial is one of the most challenging in mathematics in the UK and even with no work commitments it’s difficult. I have had to study 6 days a week and around 10 hours a day to keep up with the course. Thus, without the grant, I would not have been able to complete it. 

My passion for the field of applied mathematics has only grown since starting the MSc and I truly hope to accomplish great things as a professional mathematician. I also hope to inspire other women, especially those from working class backgrounds, to pursue mathematics and I am planning to organise outreach programmes for schools in working class areas to encourage children to pursue STEM careers. 

I was absolutely delighted to be awarded a grant from the Reid Trust for my PhD research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  My research explored the experiences of forcibly displaced Afghan women during overland migration (usually with the help of smugglers) and were pregnant, gave birth, or had a newborn while travelling.  Specifically, I focussed on their experiences in Serbia, a country contiguous to the EU, and a region in which onward movement into the EU is (often violently) obstructed.  The voices of women in such circumstances are seldom heard.  My PhD research was self-funded, so I was incredibly grateful to have the financial support of the Reid Trust which enabled me to carry out this work and amplify the voices of forcibly displaced Afghan women.  

My findings showed the direct and indirect harms experienced by Afghan women as a result of migration policies and the lack of systems that took into account their needs and those of their newborns.  I also found that while maternity care was provided free of charge for Afghan women in Serbia, they experienced undignified and disrespectful care that could be extremely distressing for them.  Despite the efforts of nation states to deny their entry to the EU to seek refuge, Afghan women who participated in my research continued their journeys into the EU, taking huge risks in doing so, in order to secure safety for themselves and their children. The generosity of the Reid Trust was instrumental in conducting this research and sharing the experiences of Afghan women in Serbia not only in academic journals, but also in conferences, webinars, and through the development of a graphic narrative.  I have now passed my PhD and have taken up a research position at King’s College London.  I very much hope to continue this important work in future. You can learn more about this research here:  Birthing on the Way and Youtube.

In the summer of 2023, I received a grant of £1500 from the Reid Trust to help me with my studies on the Accelerated Graduate Entry Program in Veterinary Science at the University of Bristol. As a mature student with a previous undergraduate degree, I have been self-funding this course from my savings from my last job and have continued working throughout the academic year and balancing it with independent learning, lectures, and extramural studies, as well as participating in various societies and sports. The award from the Reid Trust enabled me to purchase essential equipment (such as a laptop and iPad that have been indispensable over the past year), as well as essential veterinary textbooks that helped me pass first year with ease. This equipment will continue to help me over the course of the next 3 years, helping me continue my academic path. The grant also enabled me to purchase essential PPE and equipment for my extramural studies (EMS) like waterproofs, boots, and warm workwear. During EMS, vet students complete up to 12 weeks of pre-clinical and 26 weeks of clinical studies in various animal and clinical settings to provide us with practical knowledge and understanding of the field. During my first year, outside of term, I completed 10 weeks of preclinical EMS working with sheep, dairy cattle, horses, rescued primates, dogs, and cats across the country. As a veterinary degree encompasses so many additional costs, I am extremely grateful to the Trust for having faith in me and my abilities by providing me with the grant. Without the Trust’s generosity, I would have had to miss out on vital teaching to work to be able to afford the course.

In 2021, I was lucky enough to be awarded a grant from the Reid Trust for my Master of Studies (MSt) in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Oxford. I greatly enjoyed my MSt, and it has paved the way for my career in archives. During my MSt, I used archives to study for my dissertation on the history of feminism, and I undertook a four-week internship in the Bodleian Library’s Archives and Special Collections team. Whilst I had not considered an archival career beforehand, through these experiences I realised my love for archives, and after finishing my MSt I have been pursuing an archival career. I am currently working as Archives Assistant at the Bank of England, and I am studying alongside for the Postgraduate Diploma in Archives and Records Management, which will enable me to fully qualify as an archivist. Without the archival experience I gained during my MSt, I never would have been able to secure this position. I will be forever grateful to the Reid Trust for enabling my studies and career.

Thank you to the Reid Trust for giving me funds towards the first year of the level 4 counselling course which I have now completed. During this academic year I attended all the classes, made good progress with the level 4 coursework, passed all assignments, and I have been on placement as a voluntary trainee counsellor at the charity Future Living in Hertford. This is a domestic abuse recovery service in Hertfordshire that provides a safe, non-judgemental environment and free counselling/workshops. I have been supported in this role by my course tutors, my clinical supervisor and the charity manager. As a single parent of two children, one of whom has special needs, and working part-time as a physiotherapist, I had limited funds to afford the training for the counselling course. I have just had my second hip replacement and knew that my career as a physiotherapist would be physically coming to an end. I will always be extremely grateful to the Reid Trust for giving me this opportunity to change my career so that I can continue to financially support my children. I look forward to qualifying in July 2025 as a counsellor and hope to continue to work in a charity alongside my own counselling business. In the future when I am more financially stable, I hope to give back the funds given to me by the Reid Trust to help another woman on her educational journey.