UK-based charity for scholars in danger, the Council for At-Risk Academics (Cara), recently released a report, warning that it has received the highest number of applications since the 1930s, appealing for additional funding from the higher education community.
Cara has supported academics at-risk around the world since 1933, when it was founded to support scholars fleeing persecution at the hands of the Nazis. But in the past three academic years, the charity reports, it has recorded a 400% surge in at-risk academics seeking temporary refuge in the UK. It says these are highest levels since the 1930s and that the dramatic spike is driven by growing global conflicts, such as the Ukraine war, Gaza conflict, Taliban conflict and Sudan civil war.
In response, the charity has launched a ‘university fundraising roadshow’, where it will tour some of the UK’s most prestigious universities, appealing for additional resources from the academic community, so that it can meet the surging demand for help. The roadshow began today, with an event at the University of Glasgow, and will continue to the University of Durham (24 September), the University of Edinburgh (25 September), the London School of Economics (24 October), and the University of St Andrews (30 October).
The Communication Group plc has provided targeted PR support to both of Cara’s recent announcements, raising awareness within industry and in the mainstream about its urgent warning and its fundraising roadshow. Media coverage has been secured across national, regional and trade media, including with The Herald, The Scotsman, Times Higher Education, Research Professional News, Science (print) and University World News, to name a few.
