Generous gift from the niece of Law alumna Nancy Rigby funds extra Lemn Sissay Bursaries
A generous gift from the niece of Law alumna Nancy Rigby is funding extra Lemn Sissay Bursaries at the University of Manchester, helping two female law students with financial support.
A donation in memory of Law alumna Nancy Rigby has funded additional , providing financial support to two undergraduate students at the .
Nancy graduated in 1945, one of only a handful of women studying law at the University at that time. Her great niece, Jen Gibbons, Clinical Legal Education Supervisor at the University鈥檚 made the generous gift using her inheritance from Nancy.
Nancy never sought fame; she focused on running a successful local business. She wasn鈥檛 the only Rigby practising in Cheshire, but she was the Rigby behind , having merged her firm with Dixons in the years before her retirement.
Established in 2017 and named after the University鈥檚 former Chancellor, , the bursary aims to address the disproportionately low numbers of Black and Black-mixed heritage individuals from socio-economically underrepresented backgrounds entering the legal and criminal justice professions.
At the time of the donation: Professor Carolyn Abbot, Interim Head of The University of Manchester Law School said:
We are incredibly grateful to Jen Gibbons for supporting two additional bursaries under the Lemn Sissay Bursaries Scheme. The Scheme is a crucial part of our commitment to providing opportunities for all, regardless of race, gender or social class and we look forward to welcoming the successful students onto our undergraduate law programme