Bursary
Application for Elspeth Crawford Bursary
Canberra Blind Society
Application for Elspeth Crawford Bursary
Canberra Blind Society
Canberra Blind Society (CBS) is offering an annual bursary of $1500, from the Elspeth Crawford Fund, to support the endeavours of a secondary school student or group of students in achieving personal goals. Elspeth Crawford, daughter of Sir John Crawford became blind as a result of a neurological illness. Her father provided CBS with a trust fund in her memory which would help to ensure that future students who were blind would not be deprived of necessary supports during their education.
Eligibility
In order to be considered for the bursary, the student or group of students must:
• be blind, vision impaired or deafblind;
• be attending a secondary school in an ACT government or non-government school, or being home schooled at secondary level;
The bursary must be used to:
• purchase equipment to help students achieve excellence at school or college;
• pay for specialised training that could offer students in secondary school or college entry to the workforce; and/or
• assist a student or students to attend national or international conferences or sporting options leading to socialisation and confidence building.
Applications must be in Writing
• your written application must be sent to the Executive Officer of the Canberra Blind Society setting out in your own words (approx 150) the reasons why you are seeking a Bursary,
• the application should include a statement of the cost of the equipment, specialised training or costs of attending national conferences or sporting options being sort under the Bursary. Where the Bursary is for the purchase of equipment, the statement must include a quotation from the supplier of the goods to be purchased.
• a letter of support from your itinerant/career teacher(s) or parent(s) in the case of home schooling should also be included in the application.
Details
The following information must be provided. In the case of a group, each individual must complete an application.
Name: __________________ Age: __________ Sex: M or F Postal Address: _____________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
Email Address: _________________________________ Telephone: Home:____________Mobile:_____________School:_____________
Name of School: _____________________________________________________
Contact Teacher: ____________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Signature
Application forms may be downloaded from the CBS Website and returned to CBS with the accompanying letter via Email. All other application formats can be obtained by contacting the CBS office; with completed forms and attached letter being returned to CBS by mail or in person. Please keep a copy for your own records. Applications close on Monday 14th December 2009 at 5pm. Late applications will not be considered. You may expect to hear whether you are or are not the successful recipient in late January 2010. You must accept/reject the offer within seven days. The first Elspeth Crawford Bursary will be presented to the recipient(s) at a function at a time and date to be notified by CBS. http:/www.canblind.org
For more information please contact the CBS Executive Officer, Ms Deborah Quinnell.
Terms of Reference - Elspeth Crawford Bursary
History
Sir John Crawford, in 1985, presented Canberra Blind Society (CBS) with $10,000 to be held in trust; the interest being identified for use under the name of his daughter, Elspeth Crawford, to assist school aged students who are blind or vision impaired.
Over the following years, an ad hoc arrangement with itinerant teachers in the ACT used funds, provided on request, to purchase necessary equipment for students in ACT schools and to support teams of students attending national or international games.
The ACT government now provides necessary equipment for students in government schools.
CBS Agreement
Following discussion, the CBS Committee agreed (Minutes of Committee Meeting of 9 August 2007) to identify an amount of $1500 from the Elspeth Crawford Fund, to be presented annually to a suitable applicant or applicants, under the name of the Elspeth Crawford Bursary(ECB).
The Elspeth Crawford Bursary
Eligibility
To be eligible to apply for ECB funding an individual or group must be blind, vision impaired or deafblind, and:
be a student from a secondary government school; be a group of students from a secondary government school;
be a secondary student from an non-government school;
be group of secondary students from an non-government school; or
be a student or group of students, between the ages of 12 and 18 years, who are home schooled.
The Bursary will be offered to eligible individuals and/or groups of students to support them in:
the purchase of a major item of equipment;
attendance at national conferences or sporting events;
partial support for international conferences or sporting events; and
specialised courses that will assist their movement from secondary school to work placement.
The Elspeth Crawford Bursary Committee
Three persons will be appointed to the Elspeth Crawford Bursary (ECB) Committee;
They are
• the CBS Executive Officer and
• two being members of the CBS Board that may or may not include the President.
The two CBS Board representatives shall be appointed by the Board following each AGM
Terms of Reference for the ECB Committee.
The ECB Committee will:
• Develop necessary written material eg, application form and guidelines for applicants, advertisements and letters of offer.
• Make clear, in literature accompanying the bursary application that bursary funds should be expended during the calendar year of receipt.
• Advertise the bursary in local newspapers, by letter to the schools authority and to bodies representing independent schools, by October of the preceding calendar year.
• Receive, discuss and rank all applications.
• If the President is not a member of the Committee, contact him/her regarding any difficulties faced by the Committee and advise him/her of the final selection prior to making their decision public.
• Advise the successful student(s), in a timely manner, of the offered bursary and request that they formerly accept the offer within seven days.
• Notify unsuccessful students no later than ten days following acceptance by the successful student(s).
• Should an applicant refuse the bursary for whatever reason, notify the applicant(s) voted second as the successful student(s).
• If the Committee is not satisfied that any of the applicants adequately addresses the selection criteria, the committee may decide not to award the Bursary for that year.
