December 2, 2021 5.00 pm This story is over 27 months old

Lincoln Students Union tribute and week-long fundraiser for Grace Millane

Marking the third anniversary of Grace’s death
A tribute has gone up at the University of Lincoln's hockey pitch, where Grace used to play as captain of the Ladies 2's team. | Photo: Lincoln Uni Hockey Society on Instagram
By Local Democracy Reporter

Sport societies at the University of Lincoln are fundraising for a week in memory of former student Grace Millane, who was tragically murdered by a Tinder date when backpacking in New Zealand three years ago this week.

Grace Millane, a 21-year-old marketing graduate from the University of Lincoln, went travelling across the world in 2018, visiting South America before heading to New Zealand that November.

She went on a date with Jesse Kempson, who she met on dating app Tinder, the day before her 22nd birthday in Auckland. Her last sighting was via CCTV stepping into a lift with Kempson in a hotel on December 1, 2018.

It was found that Kempson had strangled Grace to death, pleading rough sex as a defence, before concealing her body in a suitcase and burying her in the Waitakere Ranges, some 12 miles away from Auckland.

Kempson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 17 years in February 2020, as the story sent shivers down the spines of millions of people around the world.

Grace pictured at her graduation in 2018. | Photo: Facebook

Now, on the anniversary week of Grace’s death, the University of Lincoln Students’ Union are keeping her legacy alive with a series of fundraising efforts.

The fundraiser will see the hockey team and a number of University of Lincoln societies come together for a range of sporty challenges, in aid of three charities.

Tributes poured in for Grace Millane. | Photo: Facebook

The three charities are White Ribbon, which is the leading charity to end male violence against women, Lucie Blackman Trust, which supports families of missing people overseas, and The Blue Door, a specialist service for domestic abuse and sexual violence victims in North and North East Lincolnshire.

All three relate to the tragic incident surrounding Grace Millane’s death, which was looked at in great detail on ITV2’s documentary The Murder of Grace Millane: Social Media Murders.

The challenges will culminate in a 250-minute long hockey game on Saturday, December 4, honouring Grace’s connection to the hockey team at Lincoln uni, which she captained in her second year.

At the time of reporting, the Grace’s Week 2021 fundraiser (donate here) stands at £1,498, smashing the £1,000 target in rapid time.

Activites include a Lacrosse game, a dance challenge, dodgeball tournament, boxing sparring matches, football games and 100 minutes of continuous climbing.