Generous donation creates new hardship fund for medical students

The Alex Stoker Fund will help to ensure that Imperial's medical students can pursue their studies free from financial hardship.

Medical students in financial need are to receive a helping hand, thanks to a gift made in honour of the memory of Dr Alex Stoker (Medicine 1994).

Launched in September 2015, the Alex Stoker Fund will award grants of up to £2,500 for medical students struggling with the cost of living and studying in London.

The fund was created through a generous gift of nearly £500,000, made in memory of Dr Alex Stoker, who studied medicine at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School in the 1990s. It provides the Faculty of Medicine with a flexible resource that can be used to meet the emerging and diverse needs of its students. 

The creation of a new hardship fund will have a life-changing impact on students struggling to make ends meet, says Kelly J Mills, Head of Development for the Faculty of Medicine: “Even with careful budgeting, it can be a challenge to cope with the costs of studying in London, one of the world’s most expensive cities. When a student is only just making ends meet, any unexpected change in their circumstances can tip them over into severe financial difficulty. The stress and worry this causes can affect their work, and some students feel pressured into ending their studies early.”

An immediate priority for the scheme is to provide additional support for students in their fifth and sixth years of study, many of whom struggle to meet the costs of travelling to clinical placements in hospitals across London and the South East.

The burden of increased travel costs is a concern for the Faculty because it may encourage some medical students to abandon their clinical training and begin looking for paid work. “Our goal is to ensure that no Imperial medical student should ever feel pressured to leave their studies because of lack of funds,” says Dr Michael Schachter, who leads on pastoral care in the Faculty of Medicine. “This act of immense generosity by Mr and Mrs Stoker will make a significant contribution to achieving that aim.”

After his studies, Dr Stoker (Medicine 1994) went on to become a consultant in emergency medicine, working in south east England. He died in July 2013 at the age of 39. Ms Mills says: “By choosing to remember Dr Stoker through a gift to the Faculty of Medicine, the Stoker family are helping to ensure that medical students can pursue their studies free from the burden of financial hardship. It is a wonderful tribute both to his memory, and to the connection he felt to his years at medical school.”