Morson Group Philanthropy
The Morson Group was founded by Gerry Mason from his family home in 1969. Over the past 50 years, the Morson Group has become one of the largest engineering recruitment companies in the world and developed a diverse collection of businesses with an outstanding reputation for delivering solutions across a range of sectors, including aerospace, construction, automotive, and digital.
Our story so far
STEM Discovery Programme
In 2016, we partnered with the Morson Group to launch the STEM Discovery Programme which would advocate engineering skill sets and make a positive difference to the next generation of STEM talent.
The Programme was developed over five years and led to the creation of several projects centred around:
STEMinist-focused programmes were developed to support women studying STEM subjects, including Go Beyond, a mentoring scheme to connect engineering students with females in industry.
The team also launched Make it Matter, a series of industry-focused talks to celebrate thought-provoking research and to provide an insight into industry trends. Over the years, 12 STEM businesses delivered talks to over 150 students.
The Morson Career Bar was established to give students an insight into industry trends and to connect them with Morson Talent while they're completing their studies.
Every year, the team created new STEM workshops to present at public events, including the Manchester Science Festival, to help showcase the power of engineering and maker workshops.
They also designed the 'Maker Challenge' to provide young people with the opportunity to experience maker workshops. To help teachers improve their own understanding of 3D printing, CPD training was delivered.
The challenge was delivered to 540 students at nine schools, and each school was awarded a 3D Ultimaker printer to help them continue the workshops and enable the students to develop the skills they had learnt.
A Technician Network was created to advance technicians as experts across the region through quarterly events; 30 technicians from five universities registered and benefited from the programme.
Through each of the programmes above, we were able to work closely with the local community, city councils and national STEM agencies to bring the power of STEM-related subjects to a range of audiences and age groups across the region.
Maker Space
With thanks to the generosity of the Morson Group, we went on to create the Maker Space and Morson Engine Room, an environment which enabled students and staff to enhance their practical skillset and knowledge of applications.
Our Maker Space is an additive manufacturing and digital fabrication facility which also houses the 3D Print Hive. The Morson Engine Room houses our heavy machinery, including the waterjet cutter and 3D metal printer; it also features our Metrology room, a space for more analytical work, including reverse engineering, prototyping, measurement, and microscopy.
‘Make in Salford’ is the motto for those in the Maker Space, as it was designed to not only enhance the employability of our students by providing them with real-world engineering skills but to inspire our expert technical team and external industry professionals to collaborate across the University and innovate traditional processes.
Morson Group Scholarship
In 2019, the Morson Group Scholarship launched to provide students completing a computing degree at the University of Salford not only with a non-repayable award but the confidence to succeed with the support of an incredible company behind them.
Alisha
"This scholarship has made me feel much more motivated to work hard and excel in my studies at university .... To have a donor who believes in me and supports me is something that I am incredibly grateful for .... Continuing my studies wouldn’t be possible without the generous support from scholarship donors like yourself. Once again, thank you for making this possible"
Usama
"Having the scholarship has been a blessing for me as I am able to focus on my university assignments without having to worry about any financial issues, especially during these hard times. I feel very positive about my final year, and I have the donors to thank for that. I would like to say thank you very much for providing me with this opportunity, without you guys it would’ve been a struggle"
Ronak
"It is my privilege to have this opportunity to receive support from the Morson Group; without the scholarship, studying alone would have been difficult. Before I was granted the scholarship, I was thinking of having a part-time job, but now I can focus on my studies with peace of mind .... Thank you for your generosity"
Yaqub
"I am very thankful for your generous support which has enabled me to focus exclusively on my learning. Your generosity has inspired me to help others and give back to my community. I hope, one day, that I will be able to inspire students to achieve their goals in a similar fashion"
Supporting the community
The University of Salford and Morson Group joined forces once again in 2020 to support the NHS as they began to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Maker Space stayed open during the lockdown to laser cut and 3D print face shields for the Salford Royal Trust, NHS surgeries and frontline workers, creating over 7,000 units.
Looking ahead ...
In 2022, we were thrilled to enter a new five-year agreement with the Morson Group to launch the Morson Group STEM Foundation.
The work of the new Foundation will celebrate Morson Group's investment into the local community, education, social mobility, and their talent pipeline, by building upon the existing initiatives of the Discovery Programme with the introduction of:
| New programme | Overview |
| Morson Group Advisory Board | To support the delivery of the Foundation, whilst providing invaluable insights into industry trends to ensure the Maker Space remains industry relevant. |
| Morson Talent 'MINT' Programme | An initiative to boost employability through mentoring, internships, networking opportunities, and industry talks. |
| Institute of Technology - NEXT GEN ACADEMY | Develop placements for young technicians starting to forge a career in digital technology and engineering. |
| Esports | Youth engagement activities focused around Esports, a unique digital and interactive media straddling the creative industries. |
Maker Space 2.0
As part of our new agreement, we launched the Maker Space 2.0 in 2022, a flagship facility with a dedicated 300m squared engineering workshop situated in our Science, Engineering and Environment Building on campus.
"We are very excited to launch the Maker Space 2.0 plans with Morson Group and to grow our flagship for engineering and technology skills right here, in the heart of Salford."
Dr Maria Stukoff
The University of Salford is extremely proud of our relationship with the Morson Group for their generosity has provided our students and staff with incredible opportunities, from the creation of the Maker Space which features a range of industry-standard equipment to life-changing scholarships.
Ged Mason
“Our collaboration with the University of Salford continues to strengthen and we’re delighted to have facilitated the creation of the Morson Engine Room and the Maker Space. This is a major technical facility to inspire future engineers into STEM career pathways, and particularly females, whilst providing hands-on training to ensure the next generation of talent is industry ready with the skills, experience and knowledge that employers want and need. The entire team at Morson embraces this vision and we’re extremely proud to reach this milestone in what’s our 50th year in business.”
CEO of Morson Group
Dr Maria Stukoff
“This is a flagship for Salford, for attracting the next generation of engineers and to enable industry to recruit from our talent pool. It is exciting to be working alongside Morson Group to build on our manufacturing pedigree, which gave birth to the first engineering courses dating back to the Industrial Revolution!”
Maker Space Director
On behalf of everyone at the University of Salford, we would like to thank the Morson Group for their generosity has not only fuelled the development of the Maker Space and Morson Engine Room but provided our students and staff with extraordinary experiences.
Our university and students are extremely privileged to also receive exceptional support from Ged Mason's family through a range of scholarships.