Being recently retired, you get the chance to spend more time doing the things you really enjoy. For us it was more overseas travel, while at a local level it was gardening (Carolyn) and motorsport (Evan).
On top of that you also get the chance to think about how you could help our others with your spare time or funding. This got us thinking about when we got invited to several OMRF functions though Evans former employer, often featuring summer research students. We were really impressed with what was going on ‘behind the scenes’. Suddenly the idea of sponsorship seemed within our grasp so we did some sums and decided that rather than leave a bequeath for the OMRF we would sponsor two summer scholarships a year for as long as we could afford it.
The summer scholarship programme ticked so may boxes for us and having one of our parents succumb to dementia reinforced our desire to try and help make a difference.
Having now been a supporter for 3 years, we are always excited to find out who ‘our’ summer students are and seeing them progress with their particular project, even after the programme has finished. Meeting them in person is also a highlight.
We make a point of telling our friends and acquaintances about OMRF and the scholarship research scholarship programme, just in case one of them may also be in a position to help fund a student. We know they will be hooked.