Family of Patricia Hughes grateful for continued support of St. Columb’s College bursary

The bursary, established by her sister Mary and nephew Pádraig Delargy in June 2018 awards £4,000 to a pupil from a low-income household leaving St. Columb’s College each year to support them through their time at university.

The family stated: “We wanted to find a way of keeping Patricia’s memory alive by doing something positive to help the pupils she dedicated her life to. For us, the bursary totally encapsulates who Patricia was and makes a substantial difference to the lives of College boys throughout their time at university.”

Pádraig added: “Having finished university myself in 2018, I know first-hand the economic pressures of third level education. The bursary offers a chance to alleviate some of that burden from the boys and recognises the outstanding contributions they have made to their school and community.”

Mary said: “We would like to thank everyone who has helped to make this possible over the past 3 years. The level of support from family, friends, as well as the College community has blown us away. We know how proud Patricia would be of what is being done in her name.”

The bursary has already supported four pupils from the school. Two of those pupils took part in a recent video outlining how it helped them. “It gave me the opportunity to work with such amazing people,” said Odhrán McGlinchey. “It takes the stress off the bills - if it wasn’t for the bursary I don’t know what I would do.”

Billy Quigley, the first recipient of the bursary has his own reflections on Patricia: “My first thought is she always had a happy aura around her. That made her really approachable. There were a few times when I was struggling and I came to Miss Hughes and she was always willing to lend a hand.”

As has been the case for so many charities, the bursary scheme had to find novel ways of fundraising during the pandemic.

“We had planned a series of events in the school and beyond to mark Patricia’s 60th birthday,’ explained Pádraig. “Unfortunately, because of COVID these couldn’t go ahead and we had to move online. We’ve been so fortunate in having great support, particularly from Ann Louise Kirby, James Green and Bernie McTaggart, when organising school events online. We also ran a toilet roll kick up challenge and received tremendous support from former Derry City players Conor McDermott, Aaron McEneff and Ben Doherty, among others.”

Finbar Madden, principal of St. Columb’s, said: “I would like to thank each and every one of you for the contributions you’ve already made to the bursary over the course of its existence.”

To donate to the bursary visit www.paypal.me/padraigdelargy