“Receiving a bursary made me feel part of the community before I even arrived.” Eleanor
Bursaries
Give what you can. Take what you need
Women in Power CIC is a not-for-profit organisation, which ensures that the costs of running and attending the initiation are kept to a minimum. However, our fee is still beyond the reach of many women. We believe an opportunity as special as this should be open to as many women as possible, regardless of their financial situation.
The Women in Power Bursary Group was created to offer grants to women who need financial support to help cover the cost of the initiation. Our job is to encourage and facilitate fundraising within our community and to allocate the funds raised prudently and with great care to support women who apply.
How can I help?
We invite you to support our cause, which makes an important and lasting impact on women’s lives. Maybe you have time and no money. Maybe you have money and no time. We welcome it all.
The Bursary Group aims to support one main fundraising event each year. Previous events have included a 10k Wild Run, a fire walk and the production of a CD. We invite you to get in touch if you want to be part of organising something which has the potential to bring people together to generate income.
Fundraiser 2019
On Sunday 3rd November 2019, 17 women from our community are teaming up to enter the Wolf Run 10k Mud Run in a brave and challenging effort to raise money for our Bursary Fund. This year, in honour and in memory of our dear friend Jayne Blackman, we will give 50% of the money raised to MIND, the mental health charity. We will let you know ways you can donate nearer the time.
Dream Big
We also invite you to dream up your own events – large or small – and to go ahead and organise them yourself. Any amount of money you could raise would be gratefully received. Recently, one woman sold some unwanted clothes and sent the proceeds to us via bank transfer – this kind of initiative is brilliant for us, as there are no costs involved and we are able to use all the funds received to support women to access this work.
Complex, simple, quirky, wildly ambitious, edible, sellable, giftable, relaxing, inspiring, quick or slow… Whatever ideas you have, talk to us. We can’t make it all happen, but we can support you in making it happen.
Contact us with your ideas.
How the bursary process works
We limit the proportion of our funds allocated to grants each year and, to secure our ability to give in the future, we do not exceed this amount.
Our funds are limited, so we normally give less than 50% of the cost of the initiation to an applicant. We believe that women need to contribute what they can in order to value and engage as fully as possible in the experience.
We ask each applicant to pay the full deposit when they ask for a bursary, to indicate their commitment to contributing to the cost of their initiation. We recognise that this can be a lot to pay up front and means that some women have to delay when they come to the initiation in order to save this sum. Once we have agreed a bursary amount, the remaining fee can be paid in monthly instalments on the understanding that full payment must be made before the initiation starts.
We review our policies periodically and, at present, we grant up to 40% of our accrued fund each year. We allocate a small proportion of the amount available to staff bursaries, depending on applications and resources.
If you would like to enquire about a bursary, we will first ask you to fill in an application form. We understand how hard it can be to ask for financial help. The questions are open and encourage you to think about the commitment you are able to make so that we can start to assess what you might need from us.
After the bursary application deadline, the bursary group meets to discuss each application. Each woman then receives a telephone call from one of us to discuss her application on behalf of the bursary group. The telephone conversations are pre-arranged, informal and designed with the intention of finding a financial solution and timeframe for the applicant to attend WiP. Sometimes there is more than one option. We outline the alternatives and answer any questions. Solutions and options are then taken back to the bursary team for final approval.
We are clear that it is not our remit to judge the merits of one woman’s application against another, rather to allocate our funds wisely. We see ourselves as the trustees of the money raised by the community for this purpose. Providing bursaries is one of the ways we strive to increase the diversity of the women who attend the initiation.
We recognise that the initiation has already begun for our bursary applicants. If you apply, be assured that we will work with you with the same fierce love with which we meet everyone when they begin the initiation.
How do I apply?
Applications are only open to women who have been offered a place on the initiation.
You will be asked in the course of registration whether or not you wish to apply for a bursary. If you indicate that you do wish to apply, we will send you an application form.
Donations
We invite you to support a cause which makes an important and lasting impact on women’s lives. Maybe you have time and no money. Maybe you have money and no time. We welcome it all. You can donate at any time.
