THOUSANDS of skint girl students are offering themselves as “sugar babies”
for rich older men in return for having tuition fees and accommodation bills
paid.
Nearly 225,000 members on the SeekingArrangement.com website, which sets up
“mutually beneficial relationships”, are registered as studying in the UK.
People who sign up with university email addresses are handed free premium
memberships, allowing them to attract and communicate with potential sugar
daddies, or mummies, for free.
Brandon Wade, who founded the site in 2006, denied it encouraged
undergraduates to sell their bodies in order to fund their studies.
Mr Wade, who claims members make an average £2,000 a month, said: “While some
students choose debt or slog away at low-paid jobs, university sugar babies
are afforded a higher quality lifestyle. It allows students to focus on
their studies.
“Some see this as a controversial solution. However, SeekingArrangement.com
has helped students graduate debt-free. That’s more than anyone can say of
Parliament or university bodies.”
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Second year advertising student Eva Tomkins, 20, joined the site before
Christmas.
The Manchester Metropolitan undergraduate already owes around £25,000 in uni
costs and struggles to pay her £400-a-month rent.
Eva, from Lancaster, told The Sun: “I’ve earned about £700 and I’ve had things
bought for me. I’ve had lots of people contact me.
“I’d say about one in five messages you get is sexually explicit but I just
don’t reply. One guy paid me £200 to go for a drink with him. I met him
twice so got £400.
“I’ve never felt threatened by anyone. I think most of the people are just
lonely and want contact.
“I told my mum. She knows I’m struggling financially but that I’m not doing
anything wrong or illegal.”
A law student called Evie, also 20, jokes on her profile that she loves trying
out new things, including “new underwear”. And a 19-year-old English
literature student from Cambridge states: “I’m a uni student looking for
someone to look after me so I don’t have to waste my energy stressing about
my lack of financial security.
“Break the ice by telling me what you want, open to anything x.”
Mr Wade claims the number of UK-based students signing up to the website has
increased by 40 per cent in the past 12 months.
Kent University has the most sugar babies, with 724, followed by Cambridge,
with 704.
St Andrews, where Prince William and wife Kate went, is fifth on the list with
533 students signed up.
A Swansea University study last year found one in 20 undergraduates has worked
in the sex industry.