Jane Bennett-Powell.

Television and radio journalist Jane Bennett-Powell (French '76) has agreed to be Patron of the University of Hull's 75th Anniversary Appeal. In this article she outlines the importance of the Appeal.

I've never asked for money on such a scale before ­ though my parents, thinking back to my student days, might take a different view!

In the case of the 75th Anniversary Appeal, I have absolutely no doubt the cause is one of the best. Most universities are now in financial straits, and money is tight in all areas. Students, in the days when there are no grants and where fees are payable, are often in the most dire need.

One of the main aims of the Annual Appeal Fund is to assist the most needy students who, without additional financial help, might be unable to finish their course. In addition, the Appeal will enable the University to undertake new and exciting initiatives which might otherwise have had to be turned down.

The market for talented students is a fiercely competitive one, and in order to maintain the University's high standards it needs to have the income to continue to develop and grow.

What satisfaction, though, do donors ­ especially former students ­ get out of it? No starving children will be saved, no water pipelines laid to far-flung villages, no disease cured. Why will Hull graduates dig into their pockets?

Because student life isn't what it was when we were at Hull. Because everyone who would benefit from a university education should be given the chance. Because the range of study offered by the panoply of British universities would be as incomplete without institutions like the University of Hull as it would be without Oxford or Durham.

Hence the Annual Appeal in this, the University's 75th, year. I'm honoured to have been asked to put my name to the letters currently being sent out. My university career was by no means gilded with glittering prizes! However, I'm proud to have been a student in the French Department, with its excellent reputation.

Each student will have personal memories. However, I feel all of us, to a certain extent, felt a sense of Hull kinship: I hope the Appeal can rekindle it, and that donations, however small or large, will help others share the experience!

Current students, working with the Development and Alumni Relations Office, have been calling Hull graduates to bring them up to date on developments at the University and explore how best to keep in touch. (The University website is also another source of information about contacts in Yorkshire, London or abroad.) The student making the telephone call explains the details of the Appeal Fund, which was launched in 2001, and outlines its principal objectives.

I dearly hope this year's appeal will be the most successful yet. What a time to give something back to the University!