THE geologist behind Aberystwyth University’s biggest single philanthropic donation from a living donor has told why he decided to set up the scholarship.

Peter Hancock and his partner Pat Pollard (née Trevitt) gave £506,000 to the university in 2015, with the first scholarships awarded to three final-year students in February 2016.

At the start of a new academic term in October 2016, a further five students made successful applications for support from the Peter Hancock Scholarship Fund.

Peter, who graduated with an honours degree in geology in 1962, said: “It is satisfying to be able to give something back to the university which recognised my own potential over 50 years ago and helped me financially with a scholarship at a critical juncture in my degree. My partner Pat, also an Aber graduate (botany and geology), and I are both working with the university to develop and monitor the scholarship. We can also provide mentoring and be a sounding board to those scholarship recipients. That’s what’s so rewarding about creating a legacy in one’s own lifetime – you can see the results and be part of the process.”

Olu Ashiru from West Yorkshire received a scholarship from the Peter Hancock Fund in his final year of his computer science degree at Aberystwyth University.

Olu says the support made a real difference: “Being successful in getting the scholarship fund meant I could afford to reduce the amount of hours I was working part-time (while studying full-time) and hence focus on successfully finishing my university undergraduate degree.”

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