Bristol free school meals graduate nominated for social mobility award

Tiegan Bingham-Roberts said that students from poorer backgrounds are often faced with a number of challenges

A Bristol university graduate has been shortlisted for an award for her work to improve social mobility.

Tiegan Bingham-Roberts, 23, grew up on free school meals and using food banks in Gloucestershire before attending the University of Bristol.

She has since graduated with a first-class degree and been shortlisted for the Student Social Mobility Award.

It recognises outstanding contributions by students from lower-socio economic backgrounds to social mobility.

Ms Bingham-Roberts' voluntary contributions, which include raising more than £12,500 for causes related to education and children, has led her mentor through university to nominate her for the award.

"Some of that was raising money for scholarships so that students from low income backgrounds could go to university, and also refugees and asylum seekers could get access to higher education," she said.

Ms Bingham-Roberts said her own experience of going to university was the exception and not the rule, and explained that students from poorer backgrounds were often faced with challenges such as being unable to concentrate on school work and lack of representation in the job industry.

'All this ambition'

"How can you imagine yourself in a job if you don't see anybody like you in it?" the English graduate said.

"I had all this ambition and I knew what I wanted to do but I had nobody to guide me on how to get there, so I just had to figure it all out for myself.

"It was such a big relief [getting a first] because it's something I had been wanting to get for so long.

"When I saw that result on the online portal from the uni, it was like years of work had finally paid off".

The graduate said being around people who came from similar backgrounds offered a supportive environment and had made a "big impact" on her, especially in difficult times.

Sophie Pender said others at university would "grimace" on discovering she grew up on a council estate

During her studies, Ms Bingham-Roberts was a member of the 93% Club, an organisation set up to create opportunities and networks for people who went to state, rather than private, school.

Founder and University of Bristol graduate, Sophie Pender, said people would mock her accent and "grimace at the fact that I grew up on a council estate".

Ms Bingham-Roberts now works for the Civil Service and added she would like to be a mentor to young people like her.

"That's something I will always really care about: trying to help others to get the same achievements that I managed to get."