Taylor Swift has donated £23,000 to a crowdfunding campaign to help a student afford to go to university in the UK
Vitoria Mario received a conditional offer to study Mathematics at the University of Warwick, but it looked like she would not be able to attend due to financial reasons.
Four years ago she migrated from Portugal to live with family in Tottenham in North London, and started a crowdfunding campaignin order to try and raise the means to go to university.
“The socio-economic barriers of not being eligible for maintenance loans/grants is due not only to not having ‘Home’ status, but also because my family are low income, and unable to help me self-fund through university,” Mario writes on the GoFundMe page.
“Sadly, my father has passed away, and my mother remains in Portugal. Moving away from her was a challenge but it was a sacrifice worth being made, in my family’s eyes. ‘If you can get a university education in the UK, you will be set apart for life.'”
She then received an unexpected donation of £23,373 form US pop star Taylor Swift.
“Vitoria, I came across your story online and am so inspired by your drive and dedication to turning your dreams into reality,” Swift wrote on the GoFundMe page. “I want to gift you the rest of your goal amount. Good luck with everything you do! Love, Taylor.”
Taylor Swift fans have also now been donating to the campaign, following the attention that she has drawn to it.
“I only recently found this due to the Taylor Swift donation in the news, I hope you succeed,” wrote one person who donated £10.
On the crowdfunder, Mario breaks down her costs as needing £24,000 for accommodation, £3,000 for equipment (including a laptop and textbooks), and £13,000 towards living costs (including food, transport, gas, and electricity).
