Shift Beyond | In conversation with Nic Whyley, The University of Salford

What if the very thing we’ve been taught to chase – growth- is actually part of the problem?

That’s the provocation behind Shift Beyond Conversations, a podcast series exploring how we might tackle poverty, inequality, and injustice without falling into the trap of empire-building. Hosted by Rich Jones, CEO of St Andrew’s Community Network in North Liverpool and the social enterprise Angels Connect, each episode challenges conventional thinking about the charity and impact sector; inviting leaders, funders, and thinkers to ask hard questions about what real change looks like.

In this episode of Shift Beyond Conversations, host Rich Jones sits down with Nic Whyley, Senior Philanthropy Manager at the University of Salford, to explore how higher education can rediscover its purpose in a post-growth world – one where institutions are being called to listen, to partner, and to root themselves once again in the communities that built them.

At a time when universities across the UK face what Nic calls an

“existential moment,”

this conversation asks a simple but searching question: what if growth isn’t the goal – but grounding is?

Nic reminds us that the University of Salford’s story began not as an ivory tower, but as a Royal Technical Institute, founded in 1896 to serve local industry during the Industrial Revolution. It was built for the people, by the people, a university of place and purpose.

But in a landscape dominated by global rankings and international recruitment, universities risk forgetting the power of their proximity.

“There’s a disconnect,”

Nic explains,

“between what happens inside the walls of a university and what happens outside.”

Her call is to rebuild those bridges – to see universities as civic ecosystems capable of tackling inequality, improving life expectancy, and driving local regeneration alongside councils, charities, and businesses.

Nic leads the University of Salford’s philanthropy and stewardship team, a role that goes far beyond fundraising. She describes philanthropy not as transaction, but transformation, about co-design, not donation.

As she puts it, growth in philanthropy

“isn’t the problem, unless it becomes disconnected from purpose.”

The real task is ensuring funding reaches the right people, reflects the identity of place, and creates long-term system change rather than short-term success stories.

That philosophy comes to life in the University of Salford’s partnership with Tutor Trust, a Manchester-based charity that trains university students to mentor pupils in local schools. The results have been transformative: a 10% rise in English and Maths attainment, and new confidence for both students and schoolchildren.

It’s philanthropy as relationship, not reach – a living example of the shift from giving to growing together.

When asked how universities can avoid becoming extractive in their community partnerships, Nic is clear:

“Relationships become extractive when they’re not two-way.”

For her, genuine partnership means dialogue, humility, and co-created solutions – research that listens before it leads, funding that invites participation, and institutions that see themselves as in community, not above it.

This approach redefines success. It moves from measuring outputs to measuring equity, from growth in size to growth in solidarity.

Nic shares one striking statistic: around 80% of Salford’s students come from widening participation backgrounds. Access isn’t the challenge, equity is.

The university is working to level the playing field between students who enter with A-Levels and those with BTECs, redesigning its curriculum to reflect diverse educational journeys.

“It’s not about growing bigger,”

she says,

“it’s about closing the gaps.”

From early years outreach to curriculum reform, the university’s focus is shifting – from prestige to participation, from expansion to inclusion.

As the conversation closes, Nic offers a simple challenge to leaders everywhere:

“Keep coming back to purpose and mission. Listen, collaborate, think, and do. And keep checking ourselves – are we still giving voice to those who most need to be heard?”

Rich reflects that generosity isn’t just financial, it’s structural. It’s about who holds power, who gets to define success, and whether the systems we build truly listen.

Building solutions without building empires takes courage, the courage to fund differently, partner differently, and lead differently.

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The Shift Beyond podcast is supported by Angels Connect, a social enterprise born from St Andrew’s Community Network in North Liverpool. Angels Connect is more than a sponsor, it’s a live case study of the Shift Beyond philosophy in action.

Developed to redesign access to debt and welfare advice, it puts the power to connect people to help directly in the hands of communities – teachers, faith leaders, health workers, neighbours – enabling anyone, anywhere, anytime to make a referral within minutes.

Rather than scaling traditional charity models, Angels Connect reimagines how support systems can work: lighter, faster, more relational, and more human.