Stormzy donates £500,000 to scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds

Grime artist pledged to give away £10m over the course of a decade to fight racial inequality in the UK

Stormzy has donated £500,000 to the Black Heart Foundation to provide educational scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Brit award-winning grime artist had pledged earlier this year to give away £10m over the course of a decade to help combat racial inequality in the UK.

This first donation will award cash grants to around 50 students, supporting those who need financial aid to take part in education in any form, not just university.

Anyone from an under-resourced and under-represented community is able to apply for a scholarship at the Black Heart Foundation. The majority of recipients in the past have been from a Bame background.

The new donation was made through the Merky Foundation, the registered charity which the rapper uses to co-ordinate his philanthropy.

Ric Lewis, the founder of the Black Heart Foundation, said: “[The Merky Foundation’s] contribution is an amazing testament to their vision and commitment to higher and further education for ambitious, hardworking young people from the most under-resourced and under-represented communities in our society.

“With their support we will reach another 50 young people, taking the total number of scholars we can help to 250.”

Stormzy already awards “Stormzy scholarships” to two black students each year at the Univesity of Cambridge, which covers tuition fees and a substantial living expense grant.

Stormzy at the ‘Heavy Is the Head’ album event in New York City, January 2020 (Getty Images for Atlantic Record)

In 2018, Stormzy claimed that he had offered the scholarship scheme to Oxford University, but was rejected.

Oxford denied the allegation, stating that they “admire Stormzy’s commitment“ to higher education but had “not received or turned down any offer”.