“A very little key will open a very heavy door.”

Peter Whelpton, Class of 69’  

Peter grew up in South Yorkshire; he was the son of a council worker and lived in a harsh domestic environment where a university education was not on the cards. His family did not support his decision to go to university but he qualified for the Local Authority Grant, and arrived in York to study Economics… where he thrived! 

His love of Economics motivated him to continue studying at LSE, but he needed £700 to take up the offered place. It was now that Peter appreciated the value of philanthropy in Higher Education because, unable to fund tuition, he was forced to put his Masters on hold.

Forty years after he left York, we reconnected with Peter in 2010. He was eager to talk about how he might support current students and soon the York Opportunity Scholarship (YOS) was established. The YOS provides financial support to undergraduate students who overcome very difficult personal, social, or domestic barriers to receive an education at York. Peter launched this scholarship and continued to give over the next seven years, personally supporting students in their pursuit of higher education.

In 2017, Peter sadly received a terminal illness diagnosis. He made the profound decision to include York in his will and this ensured the York Opportunity Scholarship (and his personal legacy) would continue to support future generations in their access to education.

Peter’s story was shared among the wider York community and alumni built on Peter’s legacy. As a result of this generosity, we are currently able to support 173 scholars – a motivated bunch who have overcome major barriers to reach York. 

Stephen Donegan, current student, MPhysics 

One such individual who received the scholarship was Stephen Donegan. Going to University was always a major goal for Stephen but he faced several obstacles in following the more 'traditional’ route. Growing up as a young carer for his mother, his responsibilities meant he didn’t obtain enough formal qualifications to get into University. York offered Stephen a foundation course, which he describes as a ‘zero to hero’ course. 

His passion for physics led him to work 90 hour weeks to complete his studies on top of his ‘real life’ jobs of gardening and lifeguarding. All this was in addition to being a single parent for his seven-year-old son, Isaac. Stephen achieved entry onto the Physics course but the prospect of four more years of economic uncertainty filled him with dread. His dream of qualifying as a chartered physicist and contributing to the scientific community at York was once again in jeopardy.

Stephen was awarded the York Opportunity Scholarship, ensuring he would be supported throughout his course. This short video from Stephen relates how much this scholarship, this personal investment in his future, has meant to him: 

Full Circle

The next step in this story is even more incredible. Back in 2010, Peter made an individual choice to open a door into education which had been closed for him, and he continued to provide opportunities by leaving a gift in his will. This led to a whole community continuing to support the worthwhile scholarship. Now, turning full circle, Stephen, a scholar, has pledged a gift in his will to York. 

His gift will ensure those following him can receive the same support which made his education possible. In a letter to the donors of the Scholarship, Stephen says: 

If you can continue Peter’s legacy, and support students like Stephen, then please consider including the University of York in your will. Thank you. 

The legacy gift from the estate of Professor Peter H. Venables, founder of the Department of Psychology and former Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, has enabled more Psychology students to receive the York Futures Scholarship. 

I would like to thank Professor Adrian Raine and Professor Quentin Summerfield for kindly lending me their words of remembrance for Peter, as published in the The Psychologist in 2017. Their full article (available here) also includes a detailed look into Professor Venables academic contributions. 

An appreciation from Professor Adrian Raine and Professor Quentin Summerfield

In the light of his exceptional achievements, one of the more striking aspects of Peter’s life was how he accomplished so much based on a relatively modest background. He was born in Ilfracombe where his father was a shopkeeper, but he largely grew up in West Kirby, a small town close to Liverpool. While he always wanted to attend university he could not commandeer the support of his parents. He consequently left school at the age of 16 to work as a telephone engineer before serving in the navy in World War II as a radar technician on ships. Surprisingly, these early experiences were to sow the seeds for him becoming an internationally-renowned psychologist …” 

“In 1974 Peter founded the Department of Psychology at the University of York, where he quickly established the principles that still determine the ethos of the department: that psychology is most influential when it is quantitative, biological, and experimental. 

Peter adored gardening … [his] enthusiasm was long-standing, having begun as a young boy when he was given a part of his parent’s garden to grow things, with the full run of the garden shed. His garden was radiant, and sparkled with as much light and colour as Peter’s intellect lit up the academic landscape.

We remember Peter with great admiration. He was a man of immense integrity, a good deal of dignity, and at least a little genius. He was publishing scientific articles right up to the time of his death, his last one being on sleep. Despite his passing, his legacy lives on in the Department of Psychology at the University of York, in his two sons – Andrew and Peter – and in his many grandchildren.”

Scholar story - Jessie Whichelow 

The University thanks Peter in his memory for his incredible gift, it will support passionate students of Psychology to access the discipline he contributed so much to.

Jessie Whichelow is a Psychology undergraduate and beneficiary of the York Futures Scholarship. Due to the monetary support provided, she was able to choose a more time-consuming final year research project within the sleep laboratory, focusing on the effect sleep has on emotional memory. This feels especially fitting, as Professor Venables (who was writing and publishing right up to the time of his death) wrote his last academic paper on sleep. 

Jessie describes the impact and importance of the scholarship:

If you are considering leaving a gift to the University of York in your Will, we would love to hear from you so that we can help you with any information you need, and thank you personally.

Everyone who lets us know that they have included the University in their will is invited to join the Heslington Circle.

Below, I share some stories and memories of Heslington Circle members Barry Thomas and John Myers who recall their relationship with York and why they have chosen to leave a gift in their will. I hope these stories spark some of your own memories with York, and if you would like to reminisce about your time, please do get in touch!

We understand that writing a Will is a private matter, so all information you give us will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Barry Thomas, Heslington Circle Member   

Barry is very much part of York and the university's history, he also shared some of his memories through photos, which feature some classic York backdrops and garbs.

Photo 1 - The one of three of us in academic garb was taken on the lawn between Central Hall and the Rainbow Bridge after one of the graduation ceremonies (perhaps the only one that year) in July 1968. It is of the first three D Phil graduates in Chemistry. 

Photo 2 - Showing me (Barry) and one of my graduate students, Peter Dobson, supposedly commissioning our new AEI MS30 mass spectrometer about 1978. I think it was one of the first two or three built by AEI and it was my baby. Unfortunately, it perished in the Great Chemistry Fire in 1981. The only words spoken by the engineer sent to inspect the damaged instrument were 'are you insured?': When told we were he said 'then it's a write off'! 

Photo 3 - Summer Ball in 1967 or more likely, 1968 held in Alcuin College. The backdrop, on a very wet evening, is the covered way across the bridge to the library. Apart from Minnie and I who were temporary staff members, the others were from the first cohort of Chemistry BA graduates.

John Myers, Heslington Circle Member 

John Myers (Chemistry/Education, class of 1974) is a Heslington Circle member, and has pledged a gift to York in his will. He shared his stories of York, particularly his adventures with York University Mountaineering Club and they may change your impression of Vanbrugh’s infamous architecture.

"I was at the University of York from 1971 to 1974. I studied for a BA in Chemistry/Education. I studied a lot of difficult chemistry with even more difficult maths. The study of education was interesting and I really enjoyed two courses called Child in literature. By far the best tutors were Geoff Penzer in Chemistry and John Davies in the English department. For a struggling student like myself, they were inspirational. Thank you.

I taught science for a couple of years in Hull before moving to work with young offenders in Sheffield and then went into the property business and still working. Bit of a change from the chemistry. I think the main thing I learnt at York was to ask questions, firmly and politely and not be fobbed off.

At York, I joined York University Mountaineering Club (YUMC) and learnt to climb. In those days there were no ready-made climbing walls or gyms and we would practice on the college walls. I lived in Vanbrugh C block and after a few months, we were able to climb out of first or second-floor windows and traverse from room to room on the outside of the building. If you fell it was a long thump to the grass below. My speciality was to climb out of the window onto the roof and then descend into another bedroom and block their doorway with the bed desk and chair which fitted snugly and made access to the room impossible. The unsuspecting would return to their room, and could not get in. Help from college porters would eventually be summoned and then I would hop back onto the roof re-enter their room and put everything back as it was. Access restored. Difficult to know who or what the problem was.

These japes reached a high point when Bryan Wyvil who was a very eminent climber came to give a talk to YUMC about his ascent of the Troll Wall in Norway and was afterwards invited for a meal on C block. There was a casual mention of the traverse between rooms which he willingly took up only to have a bucket of water thrown over him a the critical point between the rooms, thirty feet in the air at 11.00 at night. He did not fall and took it in good spirit. Today I am not sure if I would have been allowed to continue at York.

However, YUMC did need more funds for our increasingly frequent and adventurous trips away to the Lakes, Wales, and in the holidays Scotland. We needed more members to get more money. To encourage more members we had a lively stall for freshers at the society fayre. This would not be enough. We needed a stunt! Forget the televised ascent of the Old Man of Hoy. We would climb the outside of the Physics department in full sight of the fair. We did get a sort of permission for this after a  chat with the VC Lord James. We did get to the top, but I am not so sure we got an influx of extra members even though we carried a large YUMC banner for the top. I think these climate activists must have learnt a few tricks from us!! We even got in the local papers.

I am still in regular contact with friends from my time at York in YUMC and we hope to climb together in Greece this autumn.

I was very proud to have been a student at York and I was even luckier to have received a full grant from my Local Education Authority without which I could not have been there at all.  I am angry a good education is increasingly the preserve of the rich. To me, this is wrong and should be changed. Please help to do all you can. Legacies will help though I hope you will not receive it for a long time.”