Hi there!

My name is Luke Butler.

As a proud Trinity graduate, I am writing to you today to ask you to make a donation to the Trinity Alumni Fund appeal because I know for a fact that your gift will help to change someone’s life. Just like it changed mine.

Will you support this appeal by making an alumni donation of your own today and help to give another struggling Trinity student the same opportunity that you gave me.

I’m writing to you from Christchurch, New Zealand where I am currently working as a Paediatric Registrar in Waipapa, Christchurch Hospital.

I have absolutely no doubt that without the Trinity Alumni Fund and constant support that I received from alumni like you, I would not be where I am today.

None of my family ever went to college. Not many people from my area ever did. It just didn’t seem to be something that was possible for somebody like me.

When I was in second class in primary school someone from the Trinity Access Programmes (TAP) came to visit. Our school was one of the many schools in disadvantaged areas that TAP works with.

I’ll never forget that day.

We were taken on trips to Trinity as part of the Schools Outreach Programme. When we were in fifth class we wrote stories – mine was called The Evil Health Inspector.

We then got to see those stories printed and bound into books which were put on display in the library – along with the Book of Kells – so that our parents could come and see them.

I remember that being such a formative moment. That’s what sowed the seed for me.

TAP visited our school every year and the more I was exposed to the idea, the more I knew I wanted to go to university. My dream was to be a doctor.

Studying in Trinity is a once in a lifetime opportunity. But, for students like me, it can also be very challenging.

Things were complicated and tough financially for me while I was in Trinity. Being a medical student, you are stressed enough just trying to get through the course. Having added financial pressure on top of that can make it extremely difficult.

I had to work a part time job through my first three years to supplement my income and help my parents. My parents did so much to support me I felt I needed to help in any way I could.

But the important thing is, I always knew that there were supports there for me. Financial support if you were in difficulty. Or counselling if you were really struggling.

That made such a difference. Just knowing that no matter what happened there would be somebody there to help. That takes away so much stress and worry.

All of those vital supports come from the donations made by alumni like you.

I cannot tell you how much it means to know that there are people out there doing so much just to try and help you achieve your dreams.

When you join the TAP Foundation course, you are paired with previous Foundation course students who are now studying the course you want to move into. You get to shadow them for a few weeks, so that you could get a feel for what their day-to-day life was like.

That’s the kind of practical, day-to-day support that Trinity gives you. There is always someone there to help. Always someone there to advise and support you.

I am so grateful for all of the support that I received. From the staff, from my fellow students, from alumni like you, and of course, from my parents.

The day I started in the TAP Foundation course my parents cried. I was the first one of us ever to get to university. They were immensely proud and still are.

They never stop going on about me being a doctor.

But, to be honest, my proudest day was actually the day I graduated from the TAP Foundation course.

That’s when I knew I had actually made it. I was now a Trinity student.

I think I was the only Foundation course student to go into Medicine that year. But the level of support I got remained the same throughout my five years in Trinity.

My first day as a medical student was terrifying. When I walked into my first lecture it felt like there was 300 people there. I think it was the most people I’d ever seen in one room.

I have always tried to follow your example by doing whatever I can to help guide and support the students that are following me.

As soon as I could, I volunteered to be a mentor to new Foundation course students to introduce them to medicine because I remember how much that meant to me.

I have also visited my old school with the TAP Outreach team because I remember how transformative that was for me.

And while I was training in St James’s Hospital, I set up a programme where we would take fifth and sixth class students from local schools into the hospital so they could see what doctors, physiotherapists and occupational therapists really did.

That’s what the Trinity Alumni Fund is for me. It’s a chance to give back. It’s about making sure that other kids – especially those from disadvantaged areas – can get the same opportunities that we had.

If it wasn’t for inspiring and generous alumni like you, I would never have been able to go to university. I would certainly never have made it through five long, difficult, and challenging years.

But, thanks to your support, I’m now a qualified doctor. I came to New Zealand to study neurosurgery and am now specialising in Paediatrics.

My goal is to work as a Consultant Paediatrician in the new Children’s Hospital. It’s just a few hundred yards away from where I grew up.

All of that happened because people like you choose to give back.

The support I received from Trinity and alumni like you didn’t just change my life. It opened a world of opportunity for my entire family.

I have two younger siblings. Both of them will have a third level education. My little sister has already graduated from Trinity with a degree in Nursing. My little brother is in fifth year. He wants to be a pilot or to study engineering. It’s so great seeing him just ablaze about the concept of even going to college.

Because of my experience, he knows he can be whatever he wants to be. And he knows that there will always be kind people like you there to support him on that journey.

That’s the difference that the Trinity Alumni Fund makes.

So, I am very proud to support the Trinity Alumni Fund and I am so delighted to have the opportunity to write to you to thank you and to ask you to please join me by making a life-changing alumni donation today.

Because, as you know, for all that you give, you get far more in return.

Just knowing that you are playing some small part in helping to inspire and empower somebody to pursue their dreams – that’s the best feeling in the world.

Thank you for being one of the people who inspired and empowered me.

Kindest regards,
Dr Luke Butler
MB (2019) Trinity School of Medicine
P.S. please will you make a life-changing gift to the Trinity Alumni Fund spring appeal? I promise you your gift will help to transform a student’s life and make the future they are dreaming of possible.