The Battersby Hall Charity will be making £15,000 available to help families in the Keswick area which are having difficulty in finding the money to provide extra educational materials during the COVID-19 crisis.
The grants, which cannot exceed £500, are for one-off tangible objects for the educational benefit of students – in this case, anyone in formal education of any age including apprenticeships. Examples of materials could include: books, paper, ink cartridges, school uniforms, equipment for apprenticeships or any other relevant educational material.
Those eligible must live within Keswick or the CA12 area and grants will only be allocated to those with clear financial need. The grants can be made in single or multiple amounts up to £500.
The Battersby Hall Charity board of trustees hope to have the application system in place by 1st July 2020 – to request a form email: [email protected] which should include your full name, address, date of birth, email and phone number. If you are applying for a child or young person under 18, state your relationship to them, their full name, date of birth and where they live.
Decisions by trustees about who will receive the grants, and the level of funding, will be final.
Tony Lywood, who is chairman of the Battersby Hall Charity, said: “Please outline the reasons for your need. We know that many people in Keswick are hard-up but not sufficiently hard-up to qualify for free school meals etc. It is also these people as well we wish to support. Please therefore outline your situation. This is not a general grant, but aimed at those who are not higher earners, nor are they capital rich.
“The Battersby Hall Charity trustees decided that we need to be proactive in helping those in our community who could do with that little extra financial boost, particularly when it comes to schooling and education.
He added: “Keswick was a town of nearly full employment prior to COVID-19, but much of it is minimum wage or just above. There are many in our community who find the extra cost of books, school uniforms and equipment for their children very testing. With these grants Battersby wants to try to add what it can do to those who may find those extra costs of education difficult. I welcome this move and hope it is successful.”
