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Educational charities and trusts

It’s unlikely that your whole course could be financed entirely by trust fund help. Educational charities and trusts can provide help to students who may be without funding for part of their course or those that need help over and above that provided by public funds.

Educational charities and trusts often have specific and unusual terms of reference. They may be restricted to helping, for example, students only on certain courses of study, above or below a certain age (often 21 or 25), from particular parts of Britain or countries of the world, or in defined occupations, professions or industries.

Payments of between £300 - £500

Students don’t usually receive more than about £300 - £500 from any one charity. Charities generally make single rather than recurrent payments.

Payments tend to be for particular items, e.g. tools or equipment, or for a specific purpose, e.g. childcare, or payments that the charity or trust believes might make the difference between completion and non-completion for the student concerned.

Symathetic towards sickness

Charities are more sympathetic to students whose need for assistance results from sickness or unforeseen circumstances, and many charities only give assistance to first-time students.

Postgraduate assistance is difficult

Assistance is more difficult to find if you are a postgraduate or taking a second undergraduate course. Applications often take some time to process, so it’s wise to apply for support well in advance of the course start date.

How to apply

See our tips and hints and template letter.

Who to apply to

Try the following organisations:

Educational Grants Search

EGAS offers two ways of identifying charitable funding for education or training for which you may be eligible to apply:

• For an instant response: Complete the online Educational Grant Search. You will be asked to answer a series of questions online after which an automatic search will take place to match your responses to appropriate trusts, including Family Action’s educational grant making trusts.

If you appear to be eligible for a grant from Family Action you will be asked to print off and complete their educational grant application form.

• For a postal service taking up to 6 weeks: If you are unable to access the Educational Grants Search online they will run the search for you on receipt of a completed Educational Grants Search Form. This postal service provides exactly the same results as the online search, however, you should allow up to 6 weeks to receive an initial response from them. The long delay is due to the fact that the staff team is very small and we receive hundreds of forms every week. We encourage you to access the Educational Grants Search online if you possibly can to avoid long delays.

You can print off the Educational Grants Search Form or send a stamped, self-addressed envelope, marked “Educational Grants Search” to EGAS as 501-505 Kingsland Road, London E8 4AU.

Horizons Education Fund

Funded by Barclaycard, this fund aims to support lone parents who have the motivation, determination and ability to improve their employment prospects. Grants are available to people from across the UK. Grants range from a minimum of £500 to a maximium of £1,500. Download a Horizons Grant Application Form.

Help towards the costs of education and training for lone parents is just one aspect of the Barclaycard Horizons Programme. The programme can also offer money advice through Citizens Advice Bureau and help with getting back to work through Gingerbread. Both of these services are free of charge. For more details visit www.yourhorizons.com