Bella is cycling to change lives in South Africa

I am Bella Gioia, class of 2018, an alumna of Stellenbosch University, which is situated amongst the vineyards of the Cape Winelands in the town of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Stellenbosch will forever hold a special place in my heart. I consider myself immensely lucky to say that I graduated from this world class university, with four years of quality education, beautiful scenery, friends & memories to last a lifetime! Of course, my biggest thanks will always be to my parents who made this all possible for me. Without their support, I’m not quite sure where I’d be today - and this brings me to my WHY. WHY am I cycling this London to Brighton race? Along with a few Stellies alumni & friends, we’re cycling to raise money for an EU/UK bursary fund that supports graduating students to graduate from Stellenbosch, debt free. This initiative is to try and get as many students officially across their tertiary education finish line & into their working world, without financial stress weighing on their shoulders. Everyone deserves the opportunities that Maties gave me, and that is why on Sunday 15 September 2024 I will be cycling with other alumni and friends of the university to raise funds for a worthy cause. ‘Little by little, a little becomes a lot’. Stellenbosch University is ranked in the top 1% of universities in the world and has the highest throughput rate of any university in South Africa - this means that any student going to study at Stellenbosch University is most likely to graduate and secure employment in a country where current unemployment rates are lying at about 35%. The problem however is that come graduation over 200 students arrive carrying a student debt exceeding R16m. On average R80,000 each. Many of these students have studied for professional degrees and to secure employment after graduation they will need to show their degree and transcript - instead what they will get at graduation is an empty quiver and an invoice for their outstanding fees. The #GradMe is an initiative at Stellenbosch University to try and get as many of these graduating students across the final hurdle to ensuring their success and opportunity to join the economic world of South Africa and begin to contribute to building our country. Please join me and support my efforts to raise £500 (R11,500) to get as many students as possible to fulfil their dreams and graduate debt-free and with a degree and transcript in hand through our EU-UK Bursary Fund in support of #GradMe. Their lingering debt hampers their capacity to contribute to a talented workforce. Your support can help them enter the South African economy with confidence. Please join me and donate to this project.