Who does Zesummer Students support?
Zesummer Students supports young people under 30 across Europe who are studying in further or higher education and do not have an adequate family support network.
This includes students who are orphaned, care-experienced, estranged, or otherwise independent. Anyone who cannot rely on parents or family for the practical, financial, or emotional support that many students receive.
You do not need to fit neatly into one category to ask us for help.
Eligibility for support
You may be eligible for support from Zesummer Students if you are under 30, studying beyond secondary educationanywhere in Europe, and are:
Independent students
Being independent is not simply about living away from your parents or paying your own rent. We use the term to describe students who do not have an adequate family safety net to rely upon while studying.
For example, you might not have somewhere to stay during the longer university holidays. You might not have family who can help when an unexpected expense arises, act as a guarantor, help with a deposit, or support you financially while you look for your first job after graduation.
The circumstances will be different for every student.
Support for estranged students
You may have little or no contact with your parents or wider family because the relationship has broken down or because remaining in contact is not possible.
Estrangement can look different for different people. We will not assume that your circumstances are the same as those of another estranged student.
Support for care-experienced students
We support young people who have experience of the care system.
You may be a care leaver, have spent some or all of your childhood in foster care, residential care, kinship care, or another care arrangement, or have another form of care experience.
Support for orphaned students
Students who have lost one or both parents can face particular practical and financial challenges while completing their education.
Zesummer Students aims to provide support where the loss of family means that you do not have an adequate support network during your studies.
Support across Europe
Zesummer Students is based in Luxembourg, but our work is European.
We aim to support eligible students studying across Europe, including students in Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and elsewhere in Europe.
You do not need to be studying in Luxembourg to contact us.
If you are unsure whether we can help you
We recognise that family circumstances can be complicated, and not everyone identifies with terms such as “estranged”, “care-experienced”, or “orphaned”.
If you are under 30, studying beyond secondary education, and do not have the family support or the safety net that most students and your peers rely upon, contact us.
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