As well as institution-based scholarships, there are charitable trusts with limited funds which can sometimes provide extra help to those in need.
Family Action, for example, is a charity that has been supporting needy families since it was founded in 1869. The group estimates that 45,000 children and families have been helped by the charity, with a further 150,000 people benefiting from their information and educational grants programme. The charity normally makes awards of £200-£300.
It has also funded the Horizons Education Fund, which has awarded over £1 million worth of grants to lone parents in education or training, to help them build a brighter future for their families.
Additionally, a £500 grant is also available to students registered on an accredited General Social Care Council in West or North Yorkshire, who are facing financial hardship and studying at one of the approved colleges or universities.
Another charitable trust devoted to helping students by way of a grant, is Caitlin’s Kickstart, which awards £1,000 to a deserving individual in their first year of higher education, regardless of discipline. The charity was set up in 2001 by Linda Hurcombe, in tribute to her daughter Caitlin, who died by suicide in 1998, aged just 19. Open to students of Ludlow College, or The Community College at Bishop’s Castle, the charity has so far gifted £20,000 to local students to help them off-set the ever-increasing cost of education.
The charity was patronised by recently deceased actor Pete Postlethwaite, who not only provided public support for the charity, but also made financial donations and helped to fundraise for this very worthy cause.
Postlewaite is not the only celebrity to support school and college scholarships, although this is a trend largely seen in America, where college education typically runs to thousands of dollars. Benevolent celebrity donors include rapper Nelly, who has used his wealth to fund four years of college for two students in St Louis, his home state. Similarly, actress Katie Holmes, along with several popular TV dance show judges, fund the Dizzy Feet Foundation, which stumps up the cash for scholarships for ten talented dancers in studios across America. And don’t forget multi-billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, who, along with his wife Melinda, run a scholarship foundation aimed at getting a higher proportion of low-income and minority students into college, both at home and abroad.