INTO This Week 65

INTO anticipates a 40% increase in enrolments on last year, with more than 1,700 students expected to arrive at centres over the next few weeks.

Particularly mentionable is INTO Newcastle University, which has seen a 55% increase on last year's figures. The estimated 750 students likely to join the programme, 570 of whom have already arrived, outsize last September's entire intake, auguring a busy two months ahead for the centre.

Applications have also been flooding in. The Brighton Admissions team have processed more than 1,200 applications for the INTO Newcastle University Pre-Sessional alone.

The rise in interest in the Pre-Sessional owes much to INTO's advances in elevating partner brands internationally, and to the regional office teams and agent network which have supported students so effectively through the recruitment process this year.

Our partner universities were equally important in the achievement. International offices, admissions teams, visa teams, faculties and schools are heavily involved in recruiting to the Pre-Sessional.

The Pre-Sessional English course, which helps to develop students' English before they start an undergraduate or postgraduate course at an INTO partner university in the UK, runs each summer and lasts between two weeks and three months. Participants already have offers on university courses but must pass the course as a condition of entry.

Since INTO Giving sent over its first instalment of funding of £20,000 the building project has surged ahead.  I-CCO are extremely grateful to all those at INTO and it's partners who have fundraised, donated or contributed towards the school, as can be seen from the I-CCO newsletter.  Please do read this heart-warming appreciation of all our efforts and see from the photos how the donations are being spent. Photos can also be seen on the INTO Giving Facebook page giving you a clear idea of the progress.

Last week Rev Alfred Nyirenda, a founder director of I-CCO, sent this brief update on the progress of the building trainees: "The trainees are doing both theory and practical work now. BuildIT have sent the theory trainer and the trainees are excited about this. They have been told that they will be writing TEVETA exams next month and they are working very hard. Thank you for your efforts for the building project."

For those of you who have not read the previous updates, BuildIT is a British-based charity that works in Zambia to build schools in areas where they are most needed but have little or no funding. They are working with INTO and I-CCO oversee work on this project and provide professional training for I-CCO's 10 local volunteers.

As you can see from the quote they are taking the work very seriously and are determined to finish with a professional qualification which will allow them to gain employment at the end of the project. They receive a small food allowance each day to provide food for themselves and their family.

Schools are not cheap to build in Zambia due to the rising price of material costs and the difficulty of getting materials to the site. We have also improved the specification of the building since getting involved to ensure that all local and government regulations are met and to provide the best facilities we can for the orphaned children in Chawama. This has included relocating the ablution blocks, putting security on the windows, improving drainage and sewerage, installing good quality doors and improving fire exits.

The cost also includes the training of locals in building schools which we feel is an essential part of the project. The manual work would have been carried out by the same people but now they are getting a formal training and qualification equipping them for employment in the future.

All this means that we are still fundraising for the school and welcome any donations to the project and ideas for fundraising events.  INTO UEA have just held their third successful INTO Giving Golf Day and are holding the INTO Giving ArtBall at the Sainsbury Centre in September (tickets are on sale now).

If you want to get involved in fundraising please contact your centre INTO Giving committee or Nicola Burness-Smith direct at info@into-giving.com.

For the latest on the Zambia project visit the INTO Giving Facebook page.