Alum Lisa Stevens (Summer School 2003), recently raised a very impressive £740 for the Sutton Trust by cycling the Prudential RideLondon, a 100-mile cycle race through the City of London. 

Her amazing fundraising efforts will cover more than one young person to attend a Summer School, and Lisa was motivated by a desire to give something back. She says: “Whilst growing up on a council estate on the outskirts of Manchester, I had no access to Oxford law graduates and City lawyers… until the Sutton Trust came along.  Its summer school provided me with a fantastic (and much-needed) insight into life as a law student at Oxford and as a practising lawyer. I now work for Latham & Watkins LLP and the Summer School definitely played a big part in getting me here.”

A proud Sutton Trust alum, Lisa has been making the most of the new online community, Sutton Trust Alumni. Lisa says, “The Trust’s alumni scheme is really great – I’ve already had messages from other alums asking for assistance, and I was even able to organise work experience for someone! Lots of posh public schools have extensive alumni networks and it is fantastic that the Sutton Trust offers something similar.”

Lisa started training for the race only a couple of weeks before the event, so she was a bit nervous about how it would go. But she said that those fears were dispelled on the day: “The cycling race itself was incredibly fun – it was pouring with rain but I got around without taking the bypasses, and I even made friends along the route. The best part was when I stopped to chat to a group of old ladies, who were handing out tea and homemade cakes in the rain!”

The Sutton Trust is reliant on generous donations and fundraising activities like Lisa’s to support future generations of young-people on our life-changing programmes. If you’re an alum and you’ve been inspired by Lisa’s incredible achievement, we would love to hear about fundraising ideas you have. Likewise, more information about getting involved in supporting the Trust financially can be found here.

Lisa plans to race again next year, and invites Sutton Trust alumni to join her. Let us know if you’d be interested in taking part: [email protected]