MyGlasgow News

The University of Glasgow was one of the finalists in the Morgan Stanley University Community Impact Challenge 2012.  The finals saw seven universities represented: Bristol, Durham, Exeter, Glasgow, the London School of Economics, Manchester and University College London.

The competition saw participants from universities around the country strive to make a real difference in their communities, in just seven weeks. Applicants were teamed with other students and challenged to engage with handpicked charities in the local area, putting their valuable skills to use for the greater good. They had been helped in their tasks by Morgan Stanley mentors, often from the same university as them, who were also there to see the conclusion of the students’ efforts.

Glasgow’s team found themselves working with Carers Link, a charity which works with carers in a suburb of Glasgow, and helped them communicate better with young carers in the area.

They were to be judged on four criteria: the impact their work had made on the community, the sustainability of their input, the quality of their teamwork, and their skill in presenting their findings. At stake was a three-part prize: £5,000 for their chosen charity, the  opportunity to attend an insight day at Morgan Stanley, and dinner with senior figures from the bank.

This last task wouldn’t be easy, just like the rest of their work on the projects. Tom James, senior manager at Three Hands, the organisation jointly running the challenge with Morgan Stanley, put it best: “Morgan Stanley put the students in teams of people they’d never met before, there was a very tight time scheme, and they’ve juggled this project with numerous other commitments. This makes the challenge a very rich, real-life experience that helps students develop skills and awareness, and will help them in their careers.”

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First published: 4 February 2013