Imperial Calls

The College's latest telethon campaign

With just two weeks of calling left to go, the College’s eight-week Centenary Autumn Telethon is in full swing. So far, nearly 300 alumni have generously donated to a current campaign total of over £38,000 with a further £10,000 received in specified pledges.

Forty-two Imperial students from a variety of departments are in the process of contacting around 5,000 of the College’s alumni to update them on College news, talk to them about their studies and to ask them to consider making a gift to the Annual Fund. “Each of the causes we are raising money for are extremely worthwhile” says third year biochemistry student Paras Maade. “Whatever gift an alumnus makes feeds directly back to students, so it makes a lot of sense for students to be involved in raising the money.”

Alumni can choose to direct their gift to one of the fund’s three priority projects; the Student Opportunities Fund, the Library Fund or the Imperial College Union Building Fund, or, make an unrestricted donation which allows their generosity to support the area of greatest need. Third year biology student Adrienne De Souza knows only too well what differences financial support can make to an Imperial student’s life: “The only reason I am able to study at Imperial is thanks to a scholarship” she says. “I think it’s so amazing that I had this opportunity and each and every alumnus who gives through the telethon is giving that same opportunity to a future student.”

Alongside generating support for College projects, one of the key aims of the telethon is to maintain and develop contact with alumni, something that second year environmental geoscience student, Nurah Oyekan, sees as crucial. She comments: “This experience has really given me an insight into how many healthy relationships Imperial has managed to develop with its past students and I think that is so vital. The fact that so many alumni are willing to stand up for and support their College is really fantastic.”

For student callers, the telethon is an opportunity to discover more about the College’s history and a chance to find out about the lives and careers of past Imperial students. “We all get to speak to such an eclectic mix of people” says first year biology student Aurora Sampson. “Last week I spoke to a woman who was working on a project at a university in Africa. It was so exciting to hear about and such a distinct contrast to university life here at Imperial.”

The final calls of the campaign will be made on Thursday 6 December before the launch of the spring campaign in January 2008.