POSTGRADUATE Cressida Peever needs about £6,000 to fund her creative writing dream at Oxford University and she’s come up with a creative solution.

The 22-year-old Durham University has been accepted to do a Masters degree in creative writing at Oxford but and has turned to crowdfunding, with rewards for donors through hand-written gifts.

She said: “I’m hoping to get a job during my first year to fund the second but to secure a place I need to prove I can fund it.

“If people are able to pledge money that would be great and I’m doing a reward-based donation system.”

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A £5 contribution will be rewarded with a thank you card with a quotation from Shakespeare.

A £15 donation will see contributors rewarded with a handwritten postcard detailing a brief history of their name, while a £50 donation brings the same design printed on a T-shirt.

Anyone who pledges £100 will receive all of the above plus a pair of Origami swan earrings.

Once Ms Peever, from Witney, reaches her £6,000 target she will be able to the show Oxford University she has the money coming in.

In last year’s Autumn Statement the government announced student loans of up to £10,000 would be available for postgraduates from 2016/17.

Ms Peever added: “The government is bringing in student loans for postgraduates but that will miss me.

“My parents are self-employed artists and they don’t have the cash and I’m the first child in the family to go to university.”

The former Henry Box School student has had her murder mystery play performed at Durham Castle and wants to become professional writer.

She said: “When I was about eight I was on BBC Radio Oxford reading out a poem I had written.

“My dream is to become a writer – I’m writing poems, plays and fiction at the moment.

“The course will allow me to gain experience in all the genres and find out what my talent is and get the guidance to realise my dream.”

She added: “I think literature is one of the most important part of our culture. We need to invest in new writers and thinkers to really boost this culture.

At the moment the English Literature graduate is working in the Alumni relations department at Durham University .

She said: “When you grow up in Oxford you really feel a part of the university lifestyle, so having been away for a few years to come back home and experience that environment is so exciting.”

By Friday, March 13, £196 had been pledged towards the £6,000 target.