News archive 2010

Annual Fund launches King’s radio

30 Sep 2010, PR 206/10

A radio station and 3-D models for teaching nursing students to recognise patient wounds that may develop in hospitals, are among the student activities and teaching initiatives set to benefit from the College’s Annual Fund. This year nearly £300,000 has been donated by alumni, staff, parents of students and friends of King’s.



Each year grants from the Annual Fund provide new teaching facilities, extra curricula activities and PhD scholarships which afford King’s students with unrivalled opportunities to enhance their College experience and help to maintain King’s standing as a centre of educational excellence.

A broad range of exciting initiatives have been funded this time including KCL Radio, which will establish, for the first time at King’s, a student-led live on-line broadcasting radio station and media service that will be available 24/7 and also broadcast in Student Union bars. Not only a powerful communication channel, but it will also provide training and development opportunities for students interested in media, management and creative careers.

The first podcasts are planned for 15 October after which new podcasts will be released weekly and the station will launch and go live in February.

Fran Allfrey, President of the KCL Radio and Podcasting Society, comments: 'Everyone is very excited to have been awarded such a generous grant. The support from the Annual Fund means that live radio will soon be possible at King’s.

Society members will be able to develop their journalistic and broadcasting skills using professional standard equipment: a valuable experience for anyone who wants to pursue a career in the media. Furthermore everyone at King’s will be able to listen to news, music and entertainment programmes created by their friends and colleagues, creating a greater sense of community within the College.’

Another successful project is the purchase of 3-D models of the stages of pressure ulcers which facilitate student nurses’ ability to assess a patient’s skin and how pressure ulcers may develop. The visual inspection of patients' skin is a fundamental skill of nurses, and when abnormalities are identified, may lead to the reduction in pressure ulcer formation.

Carol Fordham-Clarke, Lecturer in the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery, explains the importance of the grant: ‘Pressure sores continue to be widespread and underestimated. The NHS estimates that between four and 10 per cent of patients admitted to hospital will develop a pressure sore. Expert skin inspection and identification of early signs of pressure sores are key skills in nursing practice. These models will provide a valuable teaching tool for nursing students.’

Other projects include:

Poetry at King’s: a series of six poetry readings across the academic year by major English Language poets, establishing King’s as a hub for poetry performance (Department of English);

The International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) Video Camera and Voice Recorder Distribution Project: State crime research and advocacy project providing those living in high-risk state crime areas with access to video cameras and voice recorders with the goal of making accounts of the reality of their lives available to researchers (at King’s and elsewhere) and to the wider public. (School of Law);

Coach Education Programme: proving training for 25 aspiring student coaches an opportunity to gain a qualification in seven targeted sports and in return contribute 500 hours of coaching to the King’s community (KCLSU);

For the complete list of funded projects visit: https://alumni.kcl.ac.uk/Page.aspx?pid=3546  

Realising talent

In the Graduate School, seven PhD students are currently being sponsored by the Annual Fund; £10,000 is also being made available to support conference attendance for graduate research students.

Alison Thompson, Head of Individual Giving, describes the importance of the Annual Fund in helping to encourage growth and development at King’s. ‘Projects supported by the Annual Fund provide our students the opportunity to blossom by realising talent, strengthening friendships and developing skills that make being at King’s both an enriching experience and one that is valued for a lifetime. They also equip students with the life-long skills that they need to support their future careers.’

Nearly 80 applications were submitted to the Annual Fund this year with 22 projects successfully funded with grants worth up to £15,000. The applications are scrutinised by a committee comprising the Principal, a member of College Council, alumni, staff and the KCLSU President.

Last year 100 per cent of all donations to the Annual Fund went to support students and staff. The College is also able to claim Matched Funding, so for every £3 donated, the Government provide a further £1.



Notes to editors

KCL Radio
For more information: www.kclsu.org/societies  
Find them on Facebook ‘KCL Radio’ and Twitter @KCLRadio

Annual Fund
The Annual Fund, which has been running for 16 years, gifts are processed by the Individual Giving Team within the Development and Alumni Office. For more details about the Annual Fund, see the Giving to King’s web pages:   https://alumni.kcl.ac.uk/Page.aspx?pid=3305


King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (2010 QS international world rankings), The Sunday Times 'University of the Year 2010/11' and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has nearly 23,000 students (of whom more than 8,600 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, and some 5,500 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.

King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.



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