Salford celebrates 10 years of MGF and 5 years of TWF scholarships

Hosted at the Old Fire Station, the event was dedicated to sharing inspiring stories and celebrating the lasting impact their generosity has had on our university community.

This year, we celebrated a major milestone for MGF - it marks 10 years of support as well as £100,000 pledged and given to our students.

MGF is a company which focuses on the provision of comprehensive temporary works solutions, committed to providing their customers with complete engineered solutions and promoting best practice for all excavation works.

Steve Hesketh, Executive Board Director at MGF, said: “The number of engineers we have employed from Salford is astounding, and they have always been excellent quality - we have been all around the world and we still have a great relationship with the university.”

Providing both undergraduate and postgraduate students with a non-repayable award, the MGF scholarships launched during the 2014/15 academic year to support the next generation of industry-ready engineers.

We also celebrated 5 years of support from TWf, and £50,000 donated to our students in the form of TWf scholarships.

TWf works with member companies within the industry to encourage open discussion in the sector and aims to bring temporary works into the awareness of students by making it part of the engineering syllabus.

The TWf scholarship launched in the 2020/21 academic year to provide three scholars with the award, supporting them whilst they undertake a research project as they develop industry links and gain access to brilliant employment opportunities.

Robin James, Operations Director at TWf, said: “Salford has a very enlightened policy of levelling up – it frees students from worrying about where funding is coming from or having to get a job while studying.”

“By supporting the intake of engineering undergraduates, we hope that they will go on to plough their knowledge back into the industry by working for UK contractors – it’s a circular process that reflects what is right in the industry.”

During the event, a visual display of easels showcased memorable moments from TWf and MGF’s time on campus throughout the years to allow guests to reflect on the philanthropic contributions in the last 10 years.

Professor Simon Green, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Exchange), at Salford, said: “The purpose of these scholarships is access to higher education – social mobility is so important to us as it shows how the university is making a difference in widening participation - last year we ranked fifth in the HEPI Social Mobility Index so we can demonstrate the impact of these scholarships.”

MGF and TWf’s commitment to our students continues to shape the future of the university in meaningful and transformative ways and has enabled students to launch successful careers in engineering.

Alawi Abdalla, a past scholar, said: "The donation helped ease financial constraints and so allowed me to focus more on my university studies. It is a recognition for academic achievements, so it gave me the confidence to be continue with my study methods at the time. Now, I work in the engineering industry as a project manager - the scholarship helped me understand my various options while I was at university.”