“When I was 11, growing up in the village of Creech St Michael, I never imagined that Queen’s College would become such a defining part of my life. My parents encouraged me to sit the academic entrance exam, and after a rather daunting interview with Sidney Haynes and Arthur Birchall, I was offered a fully funded place.

I arrived that September in a second-hand uniform that didn’t quite match, but none of that mattered. I was welcomed, supported and encouraged in ways that opened doors I didn’t know existed. I loved my time here. I became the first day pupil to be a school prefect, went on to Oxford - the first in my family to go to university - and later built a career that took me around the world.

None of this would have happened without the generosity that made my education possible. It changed my life, and it has shaped the lives of my children and grandchildren too. That is why I am so passionate about ensuring that today’s children, whatever their circumstances, can have the same chance.

If you believe in education without barriers, I hope you will join me and become a member of the Sibly Society. Together we can open doors for the next generation - just as others once opened them for me.”

Mike Gough, bursary recipient and Sibly Society member; OQ 1976