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I was lucky to be one of the two students to qualify for the scholarship! The community members and the students were very welcoming, friendly and helpful. It was just something about the atmosphere in that building! The ‘coffee-bar’ was the highlight of the day where I got to meet with students from various universities, disciplines and nationalities, conversations that open one’s mind to the world, and then open one’s palate to the world when we would share food from our countries in the kitchen.

During my time at Lee Abbey I got the opportunity to sing for the Queen at the Diamond Jubilee and I repeated the performance at the ‘Formal Dinner’ at Lee Abbey which was a moment to remember. I got the ‘Warden’s Special Award’ at the event and that lead to another year’s scholarship at Lee Abbey. This was at a time when I was finding it difficult to raise money for another year of education in London and I faced the prospect of having to discontinue my training in Opera and return to my country. This scholarship made sure I could continue my training! The experience was so good that I stayed at Lee Abbey for 4 years in total and made hundreds of friends. Until today I live with my Lee Abbey friends from all around the world when I visit their countries. How cool (and economical) is that! I recently went to sing at the Mars Convention in California and stayed with my Lee Abbey friend Mary who was the most wonderful host. As I am an opera singer, I needed to learn European languages and at Lee Abbey I had many teachers!

It is now four years since I have left Lee Abbey, and my best friends to date are those I made at Lee Abbey. The infrastructure, facilities, cleanliness and location may be great, but for me, the aspect of Lee Abbey that I appreciated the most was that it was a catalyst in creating great relationships that last in the long run. I have asked a few people who have lived in multiple halls and all have said that nothing can compare with Lee Abbey. This is a gem and I am glad to have discovered it, experienced it and I continue to share a strong bond with the halls as well as its people.

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I would like to talk about how my life changed upon coming to work as a volunteer at Lee Abbey London.

Lee Abbey is a special and Christian space where everyone is welcome. It is a place of great adventure and discovery of oneself and new learning. He allowed me to come to London and live in a wonderful and cosmopolitan city, which by my own conditions I would not come.

Here I can learn English in my work, in relationships, in moments of leisure and in interaction with the guests. I can learn from my colleagues around the world how it is to live in an international community with many languages, cultures and yet be one family in Christ. This is wonderful.

It is a great blessing to be here and I am grateful to God and to Lee Abbey London for this great opportunity and for believing in me.”

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I chose to stay at Lee Abbey London after I found out about the Accommodation Award that the University informed me that I was nominated for that provides the opportunity to students whom they decide would greatly benefit from it. Given the situation that I was in and the fact that I knew that the opportunity could be life-changing, I applied.

During my first year studies, I was commuting across London from home to come to University. Many times when I had extra revision to do, I would have to choose between either doing the revision in the library or catching the last train home. Many times this ended with me choosing to stay in the Library overnight, as taking a night bus would subsequently negatively impact my sleeping due to how long it takes. Closer to exam time, due to the trade-off of these issues causing me to be chronically sleep deprived and thus finding it difficult to stay alert and focused I resorted to renting out a bed each night at local hostels so that I could get sufficient sleep and not have to worry as much about catching the last train. It was quite the inconvenient set up but it enabled me to have the conditions I needed to save my degree.

Staying at Lee Abbey has had incredible positive consequences that I could not have predicted in advance. The people are great and I have made many friends during my time here so far. In addition, I have been able to allocate time to extracurricular activities like running some events for Imperial’s Investment Society which would probably have been a logistical nightmare to run if I was trying to do this whilst staying at home for the year. The financial burden that the scholarship has taken off me has been immense. Not having to worry about such things has given me the ability to spend more time on various leadership and development activities alongside my studies, which is going to make a big difference for my career going forwards.

I like the fact that staying here has given me the opportunity to interact regularly with people that I wouldn’t ordinarily meet at University, in part due to Imperial not offering certain subjects, – the fact that people from a range of Education Institutions stay at Lee Abbey has been a huge plus for me and has helped broaden my perspective – the friendliness of the lee Abbey Staff is also really cool. Of course the proximity from Lee Abbey to Imperial is something that I like a lot – being walking distance/a very short cycle journey away from University is invaluable.

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The residential scholarship made a huge difference to my life. I am from a poor working class family and without the scholarship it would not have been possible for me to stay in law school. I applied for the scholarship when I had to leave my job because the demands of law school were too great. I was hugely supported by Lee Abbey and would not have been able to do it without their help.

The location of Lee Abbey is undeniably perfect for any student regardless of where they study. I am really conscious about safety and I really felt safe in and around Lee Abbey. Although a Christian community, I was able to discuss the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu faiths with my friends who lived there and these opportunities were invaluable because sometimes we often feel uncertain to or feel that these are sensitive topics but instead I learned about other cultures and other ways that help me be sensitive to other people in my everyday life – including my future practice as a lawyer having clients from different backgrounds.

I like that you can be alone or you can be sociable at Lee Abbey and everyone accepts you for the way you are. I don’t really drink or go out that much and I study a lot in the evenings and I found a lot of people were the same unlike some flats with students which are the complete opposite. Lee Abbey is for students who want to come to London, feel at home and work hard to get what they want. I am still in touch with the friends I made and they are all doing really well in professional post-graduate jobs. I couldn’t recommend Lee Abbey enough and feel grateful every day for the opportunity and head start I have been given.

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After a sudden change in my economic status, I found myself in a situation of having to request help from my education centre (RCM). The next day, all my problems disappeared when I received an e-mail from this great institution. They offered me just what I needed, an accommodation scholarship.

Since the moment I entered Lee Abbey London, I felt that my life was going to change, and I felt that this place was like home. Since I live here, I have all my time for myself and my studies. I do not need to work, and I am living in an international student ambience. Every day, I learn new things about new cultures and I make new friends. Very often, I feel that my multicultural friends here will be very important throughout my life.

The facilities are incredible, I can compose my music and practice as many hours as I want in the music practice rooms and, I can spend great times and relax in the Café and Games room. Every day, I pray for all these extraordinary people that I have met and for this fantastic organisation that has changed my life in such a good way.

I can only say thank you to people like you that are willing to help people like me.

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My current staying in London had become possible mostly because of the residential scholarship, as my parents couldn’t find enough money to pay for my tuition fees and accommodation this year. My mother who I’m living with can’t support my studies, as she is very limited in funds. Therefore, I was able to study only because my father was so kind and took a loan to pay for my first year at the RCM. Fortunately, my mother had some assets, which she was able to sell and cover my second year of study. I especially appreciate the support of Lee Abbey, as I will be able to study and develop myself as a professional musician at such a fabulous place as the Royal College of Music.

Lee Abbey is the best student accommodation I’ve lived at so far. I have never met such a friendly and kind community, and my staying here is such an amazing experience so far. I especially enjoy meals and social spaces which students can use every day. I also enjoy participating in different social events such as Jam sessions or formal dinners. They help to meet new people and learn about cultures of many countries very much.

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