When the 16-year-old Stuart McLeod (PPE, 2014, Lonsdale) joined the RAF as an apprentice with a handful of GCSEs to his name, he found it easier to imagine himself in the working world and the rigid structures of the armed forces than to survive academically as a student at university.

Now as a Lancaster University graduate in PPE, also with a Master's to his name, Stuart is a Senior Energy and Sustainability Manager for Balfour Beatty, working across some of the UK’s largest national infrastructure projects. Stuart is funding bursaries to help service personnel like himself to transform their lives at Lancaster University as he says it did for him.

Only two years after he left Lancaster, at the age of only 29, he started to fund the scholarships for mature undergraduate students aged 21 or over in any discipline, to offer assistance to students who might otherwise struggle to complete their course, or who might not choose to attend the university through lack of funding.

“I had a fantastic experience at Lancaster,” enthuses Stuart. “I think I emerged more polished. I came out of the air force with military skills and confidence, but I came out of university with a wider view of the world, better social skills and an ambition to aim higher than I would have done before.

‘My little bit of help is to encourage mature students, who are on the fence about whether to go to university for financial reasons, to take the plunge.”

He left The Harvey Grammar School in Kent and joined the RAF at 16 as an apprentice Aircraft Maintenance Mechanic, with seven GCSEs, but no confidence in his own abilities or motivation to do A levels. University was definitely not on his radar.

But seven years with the RAF - including two tours to Afghanistan and a five-week posting to Kenya - saw him develop the skills and confidence to take responsibility for maintaining aircraft avionics and electrical systems. Learning and reading started to interest him on postings abroad which led to an Open University course.

When he left the RAF on medical grounds, the more established route would have seen him pursue a role with a civilian airline working on aircraft avionics, but his newfound confidence led him to decide to “take the plunge and risk’ going to university.

His choice was pragmatic. Lancaster was the top-ranking university to accept him and he did not visit until he arrived there for 'Freshers Week.'

“I loved it,” he recalls. “I had lived in barracks for six years so living in halls and getting to know new people was an easy transition. There were many similarities with life in the forces - sharing space with others and being with groups of young people. But the big difference for me was being left to my own devices. Being able to decide when to get up, go to a lecture or when to work.”

He was classed as a mature student, but does not feel it acted as a barrier with his fellow students. He was quick to tell them that they had ‘got it right the first time’ academically, whilst he was making the most of his chance to catch up.

He chose to study PPE, because his experience in the forces had put him at the sharp end of politics. As he explains: “I saw PPE as the subject that could teach you how the world works. I had decided whilst in the RAF that I wanted a more senior role with influence across an organisation.”

He very much enjoyed his studies and worked very hard in his first year because he feared he might not be up to speed with his younger fellow students. It was a joy for him to meet people from different walks of life.

Socially he made the best of his three years at Lancaster, focused primarily on the Lancaster University Running and Triathlon clubs.

His aim after graduation was simply to get onto a graduate scheme with a firm listed in the UK’s top 100. He was taken on by Morrisons for five years - first in retail operations but and ending up as an energy manager. From there he moved into an even more demanding role taking the lead on energy and sustainability with construction company Balfour Beatty.

His responsibility is to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions across Balfour Beatty. Each day is different, but it all revolves around ensuring that the policies are in place across this organisation of 200-plus construction sites and more than 50 buildings.

The meticulous desk work is balanced by down to earth site visits where he might spend the day working from temporary site offices and treading around the construction site, looking at ways to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, and giving the workers the confidence to take it on.

This might involve Stuart looking at how to reduce fuel consumption from diesel generators, introducing automated energy management systems or deploying new technology such as hydrogen fuel cells. He might explore digital monitoring of the site with people employed there, to ensure that machinery idles less, whilst maintaining productivity.

Keeping up with government targets and research on energy and climate change, is vital to ensure Balfour Beatty meets the net zero targets for 2045.

Stuart is keen for others to benefit from the transformative university experience he had, particularly young people in the armed forces like he was, who have not initially followed an academic route. To them he says: “Taking the plunge is scarier than the reality. Going to university might seem like the scarier option than moving into a similar civilian job after the armed forces, but think about the doors it could open.”