The further education sector plays a vital role as the engine room of social mobility, nurturing talent which is often overlooked by traditional academic routes.
Through our role as a charity anchored in the further education sector, we’ve had the privilege of supporting more than 1,500 talented students who’ve overcome significant barriers to achieve their goal of progressing to University.
The Helena Kennedy Foundation exists to overcome social injustice by providing financial bursaries, mentoring and support to disadvantaged students from the further and adult education sectors. This support enables them to complete their studies in higher education and move on successfully into employment or further studies.
NCFE has been a committed supporter of the charity. In 2013, in partnership with NCFE, a pilot project called ‘DISCOVER’ was launched to support students whilst on their further education courses. To date the project has supported 25 students including Keiran, who applied for the DISCOVER bursary in 2015.
Keiran had to deal with mental health related issues caused by many factors including bullying and homelessness, which resulted in him being hospitalized and having to leave the IT course he was studying. It was during his time in hospital he decided to apply for a Sound Production course at his local college.
His application was successful and he enjoyed the course so much that he decided he wanted to develop a career in this field. Sadly, Keiran became homeless due to family issues after leaving hospital but was able to find a place of his own to rent through the MIND supported housing scheme. His weekend job didn’t pay enough to cover the bare necessities which meant he needed to use food banks but despite these setbacks he was determined to continue with his course.
Keiran’s bursary was invaluable to him and he was able to spend it on equipment for college as well as travel and accommodation for his work placement at Orbital Sound. Most recently, he also worked at a festival in Brighton, which allowed him to gain more valuable work experience.
Keiran is close to completing his studies and is expected to obtain distinctions, after which he’ll seek full-time work in sound production. He also has a few projects and pieces of work already lined up throughout this year.
Partners like NCFE are vital in supporting the charity to do what it does best: identifying disadvantaged students with talent, and supporting them to progress.
If you’d like to find out more about the Foundation or would like to make a donation so that we can support more students like Keiran, please visit our website.
