Are you eligible for a Bridge Educational Trust grant?

Grant Criteria

Grants recently awarded fall into the following categories:

• Student at university or college taking a first degree or other qualification in order to further their career including those, especially from the Trust’s priority area, who have shown evidence of more than normal financial difficulty.
• Mature student taking course to retrain or to develop their contribution to society (often after redundancy or ill health).
• Student at school for a  school trip.
• Individual introduced by other support agency for course or training to improve life chances, often after some personal difficulty such as addiction.
• Student of school age with special needs not met within the state sector.
• Single parent (or with disabled partner) for course of training, in order to support children or other family members.
• Individual recommended by the Probation Service for a course of training to help rehabilitation.

Note: The above are the general descriptions of each category and do not cover the precise criteria used by the Trust in making awards.

The Trust only gives grants; it does not provide loans.

Payment of a grant is usually made directly to an organisation or supplier. Where a grant has been awarded for books or equipment and these can be obtained through the internet at more competitive prices then, by prior arrangement with the Administrator, successful applicants may purchase these items on-line and will be reimbursed on submission of the receipts.

Retrospective awards will not be made i.e. if an applicant decides to pay for a course or equipment before an award has been made, then the cost will not be refunded.

Grants will not be made towards fees for degree courses where these can be covered by student loans and the purpose of the application is to reduce eventual debt.

Applicants are requested to consider carefully the particular aspect of their education or training for which they are seeking support, bearing in mind that grants are usually paid directly to an organisation or supplier.  If an applicant feels that they can afford, say, the fees for a course and the cost of the accommodation but does not have enough for general living expenses or travel, it is better to apply for help with the fees or accommodation, thereby potentially releasing an equivalent amount of the applicant’s own funds for the other expenses which, practically, are more difficult for the Trust to support.

Trustees will consider support for University applications once a year in the Summer meeting, usually in June or July.