University offers support to students following Nepal earthquake

Nepalese students at the University of Wolverhampton are being offered support following this weekend’s devastating earthquake.

The University has many links with Nepal, including welcoming students from the country to its UK campuses and carrying out international development work there.

On a trip to India earlier this month, the University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Geoff Layer signed a letter of intent forging a new partnership with the International School of Tourism and Hotel Management (IST) Nepal. 

Professor Layer said: “The University has many links and friends in Nepal and we have all been shocked and deeply saddened by the news of Saturday’s devastating earthquake.

“We are contacting our Nepalese students, graduates and partners to let them know they are in our thoughts and offering any help we can provide.”

The University’s Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) has worked in Nepal for over 30 years. The projects include the Livelihoods and Forestry Programme (LFP), which aims to improve the livelihoods of poor people in rural areas of Nepal. 

In September 2014, the University honoured one of its own graduates, Vijay Shrestha, with an Top of Form

Honorary Degree of Doctor of Social Science. For over 25 years, Vijay has served the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in Nepal, managing and administering large scale rural development programmes in the livelihoods and natural resources sector. The University has received communication from Vijay that he is safe.

In 2013, the University also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kathmandu University and Merryland College Biratnagar during a visit to Nepal by a delegation of Wolverhampton representatives including Professor Layer.

A MoU was also signed with Rupantaran Nepal, a not-for-profit organisation focused on forestry management, climate change and community development, during the same visit.

Any Nepalese students who would like to contact the University to request support should email: opinions@wlv.ac.uk or call into the MX Student Centre at City Campus (Molineux).

ENDS

For more information please contact Vickie Warren in the Media Relations Office on 01902 322736.