For seven days, we asked our wonderful OU family to support this year’s Big Give Christmas Challenge by donating to the Disabled Veterans' Scholarships Fund (DVSF) and help make an extraordinary difference to disabled veterans by giving them the chance to find a new path in life.

We are delighted to share the fantastic news that thanks to the generosity of 492 individuals, over £56,000 has been raised towards the OU’s Disabled Veterans’ Scholarships Fund, exceeding our match-funding target of £50,000, and smashing last year’s target of £40,000.

This is an incredible achievement, and we would like to thank everyone who donated and supported the campaign over the last week. This would not have been possible without the kindness and compassion of our amazing OU family, who have helped make a truly life-changing difference to provide even more disabled veterans the opportunity to rewrite their futures by studying with The Open University.

OU Graduate and DVSF scholarship recipient Steve Wilson explains what the support of the Fund means to him, and others.

“This is an amazing opportunity, it gives others a light at the end of the tunnel, the chance to retrain for a job that would bring meaning and brings a sense of purpose back to their lives.”

Over 260 scholarships have already been awarded through the Disabled Veterans’ Scholarships Fund, but we want to help even more disabled veterans who desperately need that vital chance in life that a scholarship with the OU can give them.

Together with the OU family we aim to offer up to 50 disabled veteran scholarships in 2023! If you would like to find out more about our work to help disabled veterans, you can visit https://alumni.open.ac.uk/campaigns/veterans