News
Discover our latest milestones, partnerships and Scholar stories.
For more information about Cowrie scholarships for Black British students, student sponsorship news and ways to support, follow our social channels or get in touch.
Graduate wisdom with Richard and Tey
We're delighted to be re-sharing a conversation recently published by The University of Bath in the latest edition of Inspire, University of Bath's...
Scholar’s Summer Research in Nepal
Cowrie Scholar Adeline tells us about her summer project at Tribhuvan University Adeline tells us about her month in Nepal as part of her degree....
Scholar’s Summer School in Denmark
Cowrie Scholar Takes On Denmark! Shanni tells us all about her summer school experience abroad this July. Hey guys! My name is Shanni, I’m a 2024...
Reflections on Thrive Event 2025
Afolabi, Head of Leadership at Lloyds Banking Group and long-time supporter, reflects on attending our summer event at Queen Mary University. ...
Best Education Access Award: We Won!
The Foundation has been awarded Best Education Access Initiative 2025 - UK, in the Education Equity Excellence Award 2025. The global awards...
Founder Awarded Honorary Doctorate
On Thursday 10th July, Newcastle University honoured Cowrie's Founder with an Honorary Doctor of Science for his commitment to equality in...
Scholar Meet-Up: Resilience & Ambition
In March, we held our annual Scholar Meet-up - an opportunity for Cowrie Scholars to come together, socialise, and learn from inspiring speakers and...
Black students, be like the jellyfish…
Cowrie Advisor, Ikenna Acholonu, on the connection between marine biology and the student experience... "On a beautiful spring weekend, I had...
‘Rights, Equality, Empowerment’ this IWD
‘For ALL women and girls: Rights, Equality, Empowerment.’ IWD: Why we must demand, ‘For ALL women and girls: Rights, Equality, Empowerment’...
Payroll Giving: A Simple Way to Support Cowrie
February is Payroll Giving Month Payroll Giving (sometimes known as Give as You Earn) is an easy and tax-efficient way of making regular donations...
A Journey in Science and Connections
I was fortunate to be part of a wonderful event organised by In2scienceUK at The Royal Society aimed at inspiring young Black and minority ethnic...
2024 Impact Report Launched
2024 Impact Report Now Live Much has happened during the years 2022-2024 at The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation. We are delighted to be rounding off...
‘Allyship in Action’ Panel Discussion
'Allyship in Action’ Panel Discussion, hosted by Tradeweb, Autumn 2024 In celebration of UK Black History Month and in support of The Cowrie...
Understanding Black History Month
In the UK, Black History Month is an annual event celebrated in October. It’s a time to celebrate the history, achievements, and contributions of...
New report details economic benefits of HE
A new report has demonstrated that the total economic impact of the UK higher education sector on the UK economy is more than £265 billion....
Inequality and A-levels 2024
On Thursday 15th August students up and down the country were nervously waiting for the release of their A-level results. For many there was relief-...
Meet a Cowrie Scholar: Salome
Meet Salome:Salome is one of our 2022 scholars cohort and she studies Medicine at the University of Manchester.
Meet a Cowrie Scholar: Miranda
Meet Miranda:Miranda is part of our Cowrie - Black Heart Foundation Scholars cohort of students who started Undergraduate courses in 2022. She...
Cowrie Scholar Kesiah’s Study Abroad Experience
Meet Kesiah, Cowrie Scholar Kesiah is currently studying Journalism at the University of Leicester and has recently returned from the USA, studying...
Cowrie Scholar Lidia’s Study Abroad Experience
Meet Lidia, Cowrie Scholar Lidia is currently studying Marine Biology at the University of Liverpool and has recently returned from the USA,...
Black Professors are 1% of workforce
Less than 1% of professors working in UK Higher Education identify as BlackFigures released in 2022 showed that only 160 academic staff at...
Priced out of Higher Education
Those from underprivileged backgrounds risk being priced out of Higher EducationWith the cost of living crisis affecting people across the UK,...
UK BME students still under-represented
Black and Minority Ethnic students are under-represented at UK universitiesA report by the Russel Group in 2020 found gaps by social and...
AstraZeneca Makes Leadership Gift
AstraZeneca Makes Leadership Gift AstraZeneca have again supported Cowrie Scholars for 2024 with a significant donation to the Foundation. This...
100+ sets of fees pledged!
100+ sets of fees pledged!In 2020, Professor Richard Oreffo had an idea: What if there was a way to create a step-change in equality and opportunity...
New partnership with the University of Manchester
Having already partnered with the Foundation, the University of Manchester has now made a transformational new commitment to provide 21...
AstraZeneca x CSF Partnership
We are thrilled to welcome AstraZeneca as The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation’s newest corporate partner, working with us to support the development...
Imperial College – Homage Exhibitions
The Imperial Homage Exhibitions is a new diversity focused student initiative at Imperial College Business School. This event, first of its kind at...
Meet a Cowrie Scholar: Isabella
Meet Isabella:My name is Isabella and I have chosen to pursue a degree in Theology and Classical civilisations; these are topics I have previously...
The Cowrie Business Webinar 2022
The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation and Business: Making a Difference. Making a difference to the lives of Black British students through corporate...
Imperial podcast with Richard Oreffo
Imperial as One - Belonging - Knowledge is Power podcast with Richard OreffoBelonging is Imperial College London’s weekly interview series exploring...
Meet a Cowrie Scholar: Ganre
Meet Ganre:Tell us a little about yourself. Hi, my name is Ganre, I’m from Glasgow and I’m a medical student at the University of Edinburgh. Why did...
Fundraising Stories: Anisha Kotecha
Tell us a bit about yourself I am currently studying a Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Marketing and working to grow my business, Yoga by Anisha. I...
Fundraising Stories: Jenny Andrews
Meet Dr Jenny Andrew, Head Of Data at The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, and DAMA UK committee memberTell us a bit about yourself I work as...
Meet a Cowrie Scholar: Will
Meet Will:Tell us a little about yourself I’m Will, 20 years old and currently studying Electronic Engineering at the University of Southampton. I...
Meet a Cowrie Scholar: Kesiah
Meet Kesiah:Tell us a bit about yourself My personality can be a little all over the place to be honest, I don't think there's one way to describe...
New University Partnerships – University of Hull
We are happy to let you know applications for The Cowrie Scholarship are open at our latest partner university: University of Hull.University of...
New University Partnerships – Cardiff University
We are happy to announce our newest university partnership with Cardiff University. Cardiff University will join our current university partners,...
Jacobs x Cowrie Scholarship Foundation Partnership
We are excited to announce Cowrie’s latest partnership, with Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.Jacobs is an American international technical...
Meet a CSF Advisor: Celia Fraser
Black History Month for me is both a cause for celebration and reflection, but more importantly an opportunity. Whilst “History” features in the...
Introducing our first Cowrie Scholars!
We are excited to announce our first cohort of Cowrie Scholars!GanreIsabellaNancyWillKesiahFollow us over on Twitter and Instagram for updates on...
Fundraising Stories: Eshitha Vaz
Meet Eshitha VazEshitha works at Wellcome, and is swimming the equivalent of the Channel in order to raise funds for Cowrie (over 2300 lengths!). We...
Fundraising Stories: Jackocar and One Hub Racing
Meet Jack, from JackocarHello, my name is Jack. I’m 25 years old and live along the South Coast, close to Bournemouth. I run an eSports league on...
Fundraising Stories: Professor Rachel Oliver
Tell us a bit about yourself I’m a Professor of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge. I work on gallium nitride, which is the light...
Fundraising Stories: Dr Lilian Hunt
Tell us a bit about yourself My name’s Lilian, I’m a queer ex-geneticist now working in equality and diversity in research and I’m proud to support...
Fundraising Stories: Dr Clara Rodriguez
Tell us a bit about yourself I am a geoscientist currently working as a regional exploration technical leader and salt tectonics specialist in the...
Meet a CSF Trustee: Prof Chris Jackson
Having travelled to the UK in the late-60s from Jamaica (my Mum) and St Vincent (my Dad), my parents met and settled in Derby, a small, industrial,...
Applications for Cowrie Scholarships now open!
We are now taking applications for our first 6 Cowrie Scholars starting in Autumn 2021. You can apply now for a full scholarship - currently...
25th May – One Year On
As we reflect on a year since the murder of George Floyd, we recognise so much still needs to change in our world and today, of all days, our...
Learn more about the Foundation and its Founder
The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation was set up in June 2020, with the aim of giving 100 disadvantaged Black British students fully funded scholarships...
Friends of Cowrie Event
Friends of Cowrie EventOn 22nd April we held our first Friends of Cowrie event with founder Richard Oreffo and some of our Cowrie trustees! It was...
Jackocar’s Spring Charity Race
Jackocar’s Spring Charity RaceThank you so much to Jackocar and One Hub Racing for choosing to raise money for The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation in...
New Corporate Sponsors – Oxera and Unilever
New Corporate Sponsors - Oxera and UnileverWe are very proud that Oxera and Unilever are joining The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation as corporate...
New University Partnership – University of East Anglia
We are excited to announce our newest university partnership with the University of East Anglia. UEA will join our current university partners, who...
Adrian Lester joins The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation as a patron
We are delighted to announce that Adrian Lester CBE joins The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation as a patron, supporting our aim to fund 100 Black...
Wellcome’s Charity of the Year
We are thrilled to announce that The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation has been made Wellcome’s Charity of the Year! Wellcome supports science to solve...
New University Partnership – University of York
We are happy to announce our newest university partnership with the University of York. Each of our partner universities will cover the tuition...
Donation Story – Harrison and Mecklenburgh Families
We would like to thank Rosemary Mecklenburgh and the Mecklenburgh and Harrison families for sharing their donation story with us. A note for the...
New University Partnership – University of Glasgow
We are excited to announce our newest university partnership with the University of Glasgow. Each of our partner universities will cover the...
New University Partnership – King’s College London
We are happy to announce our newest university partnership with King’s College London. King’s will join our current university partners, who can be...
Liverpool Responds Talk: Enabling Diversity, Equality and Inclusion
Liverpool Responds Talk: Enabling Diversity, Equality and InclusionWe are very excited to announce that our founder, Richard Oreffo, will be...
Cowrie Scholarship Biz Talk with CirQulate
Cowrie Scholarship Biz Talk with CirQulateWe are very excited to be on Biz Talk this week, a webinar/talk show hosted by CirQulate. Our founder...
New University Partnerships
New University PartnershipsWe are very proud to announce that we have three new university partnerships with: - Queen Mary University of London -...
Why is the Foundation called Cowrie?
Why is the Foundation called Cowrie?This is one of the first questions that we get here at the foundation- why did you decide to call it cowrie? The...
Cowrie Scholarship Talk with Social Impact Lab
Cowrie Scholarship Talk with Social Impact LabWe are excited to announce our founder Richard Oreffo will be joining Social Impact Lab to discuss...
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