Hello all,

My name is Lucy Matcham and i have been accepted into Kingston University to do an MA in English literature and I am trying to reach out to anyone and everyone to help with assisting my funding. The MA costs £4800 and educational and maintenance costs are the same again if not more dependent on book costs and trips etc.

I have struggled with my confidence and in education and medieval studies I have found what I'm really good at so I'm hoping that you can contribute whatever you can.

After a few family crises in which the money that I had saved had to be spent I have managed to save enough to cover half of the fees from working and from other family and friends but I really need a final push to make this £2800 to cover the fees which are due early next year. Whatever you can give is not only incredible, but contributing to the achievability of my dream.

Thank you all

lots of love

God bless

All donations in excess of £4800 will go towards my books, other educational costs and living costs (£9000) Thank you so much for all of your support in helping me achieve my dream! :D

Please help me on my way to Kingston!

WHAT IS MedievalMA?

- I am Lucy Matcham, an English Literature Graduate from Berkshire.

- I have been offered a place on the MA in English Literature at Kingston University, but I am unable to afford the full tuition and living fees.

- Even with my savings as well as a Career Development loan I still do not have enough to get me there!

 - I have experienced several forms of abuse and bullying throughout my life, during which time I was told several times that I would never amount to anything, educationally or otherwise. Therefore it is more imperative to me that I have been able to show them, and myself, wrong in achieving what I have done. It is my goal to pursue this as far as I can and to see if I can go as far. This is a dream come true for me and will allow the possibility of further study at PhD level!

- Due to some family monetary worries (my fiance was injured which caused him to have to take an extended leave of absence from work, through which I have had to help support him financially, and my father has refused to pay maintenance fees to support my sister and I, and also breaking my leg) the main bulk of my savings have been depleted - I have £2400 left!!!

 - I also suffered a broken leg at the end of last year which is very slow to heal, I was unable to work for 5 months, and has left me with a lot of pain and being diagnosed with a mal-aligned leg, which has left me being unable to work full-time, which has again contributed to me not being able to save a lot, if any, from my part time wages as a shop assistant.

- Kingston require me to pay up soon after the start of my course but I still do not have enough to cover the full tuition fees and living costs to support me throughout it.

 - I am applying for this program because I feel it matches ideally with my interests and will further my aspirations towards reaching Doctoral study around Medieval Literature. This belief is matched by the extensive knowledge, unrivalled training, focus on individual interests, exceptionally high satisfaction rate and the worldwide academic reputation that this course displays and that Kingston enjoys.  It was in my third year of study however that I was allowed to fully develop my knowledge and passion for Medieval Literature and society through my dissertation: "Defending Female Rhetoric: Refuting a patriarchal society and its discourse through Medieval women's literature".  This allowed me to explore these avenues of discussion and debate to a great extent, furthering my knowledge and passion for the subject area in the progress of it.  Through my dissertation I debated the views and literary representations of medieval patriarchal societies and the misogyny that was prevalent at the time.  This began by discussing the origins of misogyny through Greek medical theory and Christian theology and how it expanded, developing into a refutation of patriarchal misogyny through the writings and participation of Christine de Pizan.  I wish to undertake a Masters degree to further my knowledge and appreciation for further study in this subject area, in order to go on to complete Doctoral research on the subject of Medieval studies.

- If I don't raise the funds needed I may have to forfeit my place on this course :(

WHERE WILL THE MONEY GO?

I AM RAISING £2400 to meet the costs of tuition fees which are outside of my financial means, as well as some assistance towards my living and educational costs

The total cost of this master's is £13800:

Tuition Fees: £4800

- I have personally saved £2,400.

- So I have £2,400 but still need £2400

Living Costs: 

- Rent - £5000

- Essentials/Travelling - £4000

- I plan to take out a Career Development Loan for a significant amount of my living costs.

- I hope to give updates on my progress frequently throughout my campaign!

 - If I raise more than my target amount, the money will go towards my course books, other educational expenditure (trips, museums etc), and towards the cost of living!

 - Thank you so much for all of your support in helping me achieve my dream! :D

Please help me on my way to Kingston!

English Literature?

English Literature is a comprehensive literary course at Kingston which can be personalised significantly to ones own tastes, which in my case is medieval, gender and cultural historical studies.
Here are some of the things I wish to explore and develop on in the course of my Masters Degree, predominantly through a New Historical and Feminist eye:
 - the role women played in society and the "missing" women in history
 - research on patriarchal misogyny
 - Greek and Christian theology and Hagiography
 - Satirical and courtly romance genres,
 - research on patriarchal misogyny
 - Greek and Christian theology and Hagiography
 - Satirical and courtly romance genres,
 - gender and sexuality
From my Undergraduate degree I developed an interest in researching further the role of Christine de Pizan in opposing traditional gender roles, debating the role of women and the effects of misogyny in medieval patriarchal societies.
I am also interested in the role of chivalry, courtly romances and satirical modes of literature in Medieval literature and how these forms of literature have influenced the literature of the period, and continue to influence literature today.
This is an amazing opportunity for me, I never thought I would get this far and I do not want to have to pass this opportunity up!
In Sponsoring me you will be assisting someone from a Domestic/Child abuse background, which has impacted me negatively but has also given my the inspiration to work hard and to help others. I have also experienced a lot of bullying in my life, both verbally and physically, and those whom have been through that know the extent to which it destroys your confidence. It has taken me a lot to get to where I am today, several people have tried to destroy my confidence in my abilities, and now that I have the opportunity I want to prove them all, and most importantly myself, wrong, and that I am able to do this and to show where I am aiming to go with my research.

REWARDS

 - I have come up with some awards that utilise my skills and show my appreciation to all of you who can help making my dreams come true! Whatever you donate, know that it is truly appreciated and the smallest amount makes the biggest difference :)

 - No harm If you cannot donate, of course I'd love it if you did, but please pass on my story to anyone you can to help raise awareness of my campaign! 

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Please raise and share my story wherever you can!!!!

Please share my project wherever possible, with anyone you think might support me: This can be over Social Media Platforms such as Twitter or Facebook, or in person with friends, family, on your blog, or even with the neighbours!