JULY 2024
As we move on through summer, how to combat pessimism? With optimism - and the Vicky Noon Foundation has so much to celebrate this year.
We are marking our 30th Anniversary Year - since we awarded our very first Noon Scholarship. To date we have made 230 awards to brilliant young Pakistani scholars at Oxford and Cambridge, with a total value of more than £ 7 million.
After our initial years, most have been matched with partners. but almost £3.5 m has come from the foundation.
Many of these scholars are now scattered all over the globe and in a wide variety of professions, business, and governmental jobs, as well as academia. There have been huge success stories, and all have acknowledged how the award has
Been a ‘life-changing’ moment; how ‘it opened a whole new world’; and how it enabled them ‘to realise my dream’.
You can now read some of these personal statements on our website linked to scholars – and we want to add many more up in the coming months. We thank so many of you who have responded to our survey last year and we hope to push for more replies going forward.
Now, as we look forward to our fourth decade, we want to take stock, to listen to your stories, to take guidance for our next decade and, as I say, celebrate together. We must.
We are trying to put together plans to bring as many past scholars as possible together for a joint celebration. It will be next year - in Lahore, hosted at LUMS - probably at the end of January – date being finalised. Please make a note.
As Trustees, we do take joy from the achievements of each Noon Scholar. And we plan to set up a new Noon Scholars Alumni Society , so we will be looking for a group to join a steering committee to enable more support and more joint events linked to the foundation.
We want this be a joyous occasion to mark all that has been achieved.
We look forward to welcoming many of you in Lahore next year!
PCRF / Chair VNEF
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