Amy* reached out to Pharmacist Support during her second year at university whilst she was struggling with financial stress due to issues with her sponsor. She has kindly shared her story with us to show how our student grants and bursary can help pharmacy students complete their studies.

“I had issues with my sponsor when I started my second year of university. This problem went on for a long time and at the end of my second year, my sponsor withdrew their support for my studies. As I was an international student, my living costs, bills, rent and fees were much higher than other students so no longer having a sponsor was causing me a lot of stress. In the end, I was sent back to my home country by my sponsor with no idea how I would get back to the UK and continue my studies. The main person whom I could look up to, my mother, could not afford to sponsor my education in the UK.

I was so stressed to the point of being suicidal.

I made use of the support system I had from my family, friends, personal tutor and pastoral team at university, and I managed to get through that difficult time thanks to them and Pharmacist Support.

My personal tutor referred me to the Pharmacist Support Student Hardship Grant and helped me with the application. It was very straight forward. I filled in the application forms, sent them off and it didn’t take long for them to get back to me confirming they were going to help cover my expenses.

I also applied for the Pharmacist Support Student Bursary during my final year and received £3,000 which went a long way to cover my expenses. With my family’s help, I managed to travel back to the UK before my third year started. I had to find new accommodation as I had been living with my sponsor previously, so I had to work to ensure I had enough funds for all my living expenses. During the summer holiday, I worked more hours and managed to reduce my hours when my final year began. I was able to top up my rent with the money from the bursary which went a long way to help me settle whilst living alone for the first time and I started my third year with less financial worries.

With Pharmacist Support’s help, my last two years at university were a lot less stressful and because I wasn’t so worried about my finances, I could focus more on my studies. I managed to graduate with a first class degree.

Starting my journey to becoming a pharmacist was not as stressful as I had imagined it would be, thanks to Pharmacist Support.

My foundation year was great. I worked for an independent pharmacy and I learnt so much from them. I am currently working in community pharmacy and I am enjoying my work. My hope for the future is to be an Independent Prescriber and to advance my clinical knowledge by doing a diploma and then a Master’s in time.

I would definitely recommend reaching out to Pharmacist Support for a bursary. Sometimes we face situations we would have never anticipated and they threaten to hinder our dreams and goals. Having an opportunity to get support through difficult times so you can achieve your goals is something I would encourage anyone to go for.

The help given can change your life like it did mine!”

*We’ve used a pseudonym to protect Amy’s identity.