Raheem Sterling has announced details of a new scholarship scheme created to help close the gap in the number of Black British students who go to university.
The former Manchester City star will pay for 14 students to go to university, as the Raheem Sterling Foundation partners with the University of Manchester and Kings College London.
The aim of the brilliant scheme is to close the attainment gap for Black British students, increase social mobility, and support equal access to higher education.
Raheem said he hopes the scholarships will be a ‘real game changer’ over the coming years.
Young people in Greater Manchester and Greater London can apply for the scholarships now, with the first round available for students starting their degrees in the upcoming academic year.
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According to data, less than 5% of all UK students starting undergraduate degrees at Russell Group universities were Black. The 28-year-old football star now wants to break down that stat and help people from underrepresented backgrounds gain access to greater education.
Raheem said: “This opportunity will help young people access further education and present them with experiences and opportunities that will enhance their future career prospects.
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The scholarships are the latest development from the Raheem Sterling Foundation. Credit: HideOut Youth Zone/Raheem Sterling Foundation
“I hope this initiative will be a real game changer over the next few years and I am delighted to be working with two of the finest universities in the world.
“I wish the recipients of our funding all the very best and look forward to meeting everyone on campus in Manchester and London later this year.”
Clive Ellington, Chair of Trustees, said: “’At the Raheem Sterling Foundation, we believe that access to better education and employment opportunities should be made fair to all young people regardless of financial circumstances and background.
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“The work we do is in pursuit of improving their opportunities, future careers and quality of life and we won’t rest until we succeed in Raheem’s vision of achieving this.
“’Partnering with two of the UK’s most outstanding universities, whose strive for change mirrors that of ours, is a real highlight in our journey to date, and we couldn’t be happier to announce our commitment to them and the students over the next three years.’”
President and Vice-Chancellor at The University of Manchester Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell commented: ‘”The Raheem Sterling Foundation partnership will give us additional support to enable talented Black students to access higher education, mitigating financial challenges so they are better able to focus on their studies and realise their full potential.
“I believe that scholarships are a vital tool in helping students to access and progress through higher education, which is why we are so proud to partner with Raheem to invest in talented Black students in Greater Manchester.”
Eligibility criteria for Raheem Sterling’s scholarship scheme
1. Identify as belonging to one of the following ethnic groups:
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Black or Black British – Caribbean
Black or Black British – African
Mixed – White and Black Caribbean
Mixed – White and Black African
Other Black background
2. Have a home post-code located within Greater Manchester.
3. Have firmly accepted an offer of a place with The University of Manchester on a three-year, full-time degree programme starting in the 2023/24 academic year by the UCAS acceptance deadline (see UCAS guidance on replying to offers).
5. Made an application to your regional student funding authority for income-assessed UK government financial support for higher education students. The regional student funding authority for this scholarship is Student Finance England. Please make sure you’ve given consent to share the information with the University – we’ll use this information to determine eligibility too.
Preferred candidates will also meet one or more of the following priority criteria:
Have a household income of £35,000 per annum or less.
Environment Agency officially declares a drought in north west England
Emily Sergeant
The Environment Agency has officially declared a drought in the north west of England following the driest start to spring in 69 years.
It comes after river flows and groundwater levels have been declining due to the dry March, April, and start of May, and now reservoir storage levels in the region are also receding too, meaning at this moment in time, they’re currently lower than they were during the famous drought years of 1984, 1995, and 2022.
According to the Environment Agency (EA), a decision to declare drought is taken based on reservoir levels, river flows, and moisture in the soil, along with taking into consideration weather forecasts on a long-term basis.
Declaring drought status enables the EA to ‘plan, deliver, and manage’ actions in drought plans.
The Environment Agency has officially declared a drought in north west England / Credit: Pxhere
However, there is no single definition for drought, the EA admits, so while it’s a given that it’s caused by a period of low rainfall, the nature, timing, and impacts on people, the environment, agriculture, or business will vary.
Some droughts are short and intense, while others are long and take time to develop over multiple seasons.
Although there has been some welcome rain across the North West in recent days, the EA says this is ‘not enough to reverse the dry start to the year’ and is definitely not enough to cover the expected hotter weather in the coming weeks, which it believes is only set to ‘exacerbate’ the situation.
The decision by the EA to move the region into drought status means the regulator will increase its operational response throughout the summer.
It follows what has been the driest start to spring for the region in 69 years / Credit: David Dixon (via Geograph)
This will be all while ensuring that water company United Utilities steps up the actions agreed in its drought plans – including fixing leaks, communicating with customers and supporting them to reduce demand, and submitting drought permits to take more water, as and where needed.
According to the EA, if these actions are taken in a ‘timely manner’ will help preserve supplies for people and the environment.
“Drought is a naturally occurring phenomenon,” explained Andy Brown, who is the Water Regulation Manager at the Environment Agency. “As we see more impacts from climate change, heavier rainfall and drier summers will become more frequent and this poses an enormous challenge over the next few decades.
“Despite the rain over the weekend levels remain low and we are encouraging people to be aware of the impacts of drought as we enter the summer period.
“With further unsettled periods and rainfall over the coming weeks we will continue to closely monitor the situation and implement our Drought Plan.”
Trafford gymnastics coach jailed for 18 years after raping and sexually assaulting young girls
Emily Sergeant
A gymnastics coach from Trafford has been jailed after being found guilty of non-recent rape and sexual assault against young girls he taught.
It comes after a woman bravely came forward to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) back in September 2020 to disclose the prolonged abuse she suffered at the hands of a sports coach during her youth – with the years of offending spanning from the late 1980s to the early 90s.
That coach was Michael Haynes, from the Urmston area of Trafford.
Mr Haynes, who is now 77 years old, appeared at Manchester Crown Court and was sentenced this week after a four-week trial.
During the trial, the court heard how in the late 80s, one of the victims – who was 11 at the time – joined Trafford School of Gymnastics, and it was here where Haynes first sexually assaulted her by inappropriately touching her through her clothing as he was appearing to ‘help’ her with stretching exercises.
This progressed over time, and eventually turned from sexual touching to rape – with offences occurring in his vehicle whilst he was assisting the victim’s family to transport her to and from the gymnastics club.
Following these discoveries, then in December 2023, another woman learned that Haynes was to stand trial for sexual offences and bravely came forward to the police to report what happened to her when she was around 12 years old and had already been at the gymnastics school for years with Haynes.
Michael Haynes / Credit: GMP
The court learned how Haynes began inappropriately asking her about relationships with other boys her age, before proceeding to touch her leg and sexually assault her.
“Michael Haynes violated boundaries I hadn’t yet learned how to name,” the first victim tragically explained in a victim impact statement.
“I didn’t understand what had happened, or how I felt about it. I just knew something had shifted in me. Something had been taken by someone I trusted, and I carried confusion and shame for many years. I still live with the effects of what happened, but I also live with pride in who I’ve become. All you have left now is shame.”
Michael Haynes has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after he was found guilty of nine counts of rape and 11 counts of sexual assault against two girls.
Following the sentencing this week, Detective Inspector Rick Lees, of Trafford’s CID, said: “This was a harrowing investigation, and I would like to thank the survivors for their bravery in coming forward after all these years and reporting what happened to them.
“I cannot imagine the psychological effect that this abuse had on them over the years, and I hope today’s sentencing brings some form of closure and a sense of justice.”
Following the investigation, GMP said it believes there may be further victims of Haynes’ from the same time period who may have previously felt unable to come forward.
“We would like to take this opportunity to appeal to anyone who has been a victim of any form of sexual abuse, whether it be recent or non-recent to please get in touch with us, no matter how long ago it was, we will listen to you, and we can help,” DI Lees concluded.
Daisy Jackson -
25th April 2023 
