Gillingham school is able to offer support to students whose parents are experiencing financial hardship. This support can be for trips, transport to school, materials for courses, exam fees, etc.
Applications are accepted from students who receive free school meals or whose parents are in receipt of Working Tax credit. Applications are also considered if there are exceptional circumstances leading to short term financial hardship.
Application via the School Application for Financial Support Form, available from the Finance Office.
Once completed, this should be returned, along with evidence of Working Tax credits if relevant or a letter in the case of short term financial hardship, to Mrs Clayton in the Finance Office. You will be notified of your award by email, or by letter.
George Butler Scholarship Fund – Further or higher Education
George H Butler was a former scholar of Gillingham School but as a local farmer he continued his association, particularly with the running of the old school farm in the 1960s and 1970s. After his death in 1999, his Will left part of his estate to establish a fund, the income from which would be used to give financial assistance to needy former pupils to continue with further/higher education.
Trustees of The George Butler Scholarship Fund invite applications from present or former pupils of Gillingham School who wish to attend university, college or similar educational establishments in the next academic year.
The Trustees are indebted to George Butler for providing this assistance for pupils to meet the considerable costs and fees now involved in continuing studies.
Please click the link below to find out more information and how to apply:
Deadline for Applications – Wednesday 30th April 2025
Deryck and Annette Chant Medical, Dentistry and Nursing Fund – Further or higher Education
Born in 1930, Deryck Chant was the eldest of four children from a relatively poor family who lived in Kilmington. He obtained a place at Gillingham Grammar School during war time. Due to the lack of public transport between Kilmington and Gillingham, he stayed in digs for the whole of his school career. From the School, he won a scholarship to Guys Hospital to study Dentistry where he met Annette. After his period of National Service they married and set up a dental practice in Wareham until their retirement.
Deryck enjoyed his School years, appreciating the start given to him. The friendships he made endured for the rest of his life, his life could have been very different.
When Deryck and Annette died, their daughter Mary Ritchie recognised the contribution the School made to her father’s life by providing financial support for current and former students, for whom a career in Medicine, Dentistry or Nursing may be a financial struggle.
The Deryck and Annette Chant Medical, Dentistry and Nursing Fund is part of Gillingham School Foundation, charity registration 306212. Although not part of the George Butler Scholarship Fund, DACF shares the same ethos and criteria and is administered in the same way at the same time.
Applications are welcomed from needy former pupils with financial concerns who seek assistance with, for example, accommodation and maintenance costs, payment of university fees or the acquisition of books or equipment. The terms of reference emphasises ‘assistance for needy former pupils’. It is not the intention that applicants give precise details of their financial circumstances (such as would be necessary for any Government or Local Authority supported schemes). The more detailed the financial status, the easier it will be for the need to be quantified. This is the first occasion that the DACF invites applications, therefore it is not possible to indicate the amount which could be available. Awards are considered annually in June for each separate year.
Please click the link below to find out more information and how to apply:
Deadline for Applications – Wednesday 30th April 2025
Yvonne Fletcher Enterprise Fund – All years, Enterprise
The Fletcher Enterprise Award was set up forty years ago in memory of Yvonne Fletcher. Yvonne was a pupil of Gillingham School from 1969 to 1976, when she left she followed her childhood dream of becoming a Police Officer. In 1984 whilst on duty with the Metropolitan Police and deployed outside the Libyan Embassy in London following disturbances, she was fatally wounded by a single gunshot fired from the Embassy. It was an event that had worldwide ramifications and remains largely unresolved today. A criminal case in 2017 was blocked on the grounds of ‘national security’ but a civil case heard in the High Court in 2021 found a Libyan man jointly liable for the shooting.
As a fitting and perpetual memory of Yvonne, her family wished that future pupils of Gillingham School with a similar background to Yvonne should be helped to pursue any worthwhile and life-enhancing interest, ambition, hobby or idea.
So, if you need some money to fulfil a worthy ambition, start a project, put a sound idea into practice or expand an enterprising hobby, why not apply for the Fletcher Enterprise Award? Download the application form from the website and complete it as best you can and email it to tsharp@gillingham-dorset.co.uk or drop a hard copy into School Reception marked “Board of Governors – Fletcher Award”. A panel of Governors together with Yvonne’s family will then assess each application.
The closing date for applications this year is Friday 28th March and all applicants should be informed at the beginning of the Summer Term. If your application is short-listed, you may be asked to make a short presentation (possibly remotely) to the panel. Good luck!
Independent Learning Award – Sixth Form
The Independent Learning Award was started in 2009 and is funded by the governing body. The idea is to celebrate the achievements and efforts of sixth form students and to promote independent learning in the school. The winner of the award receives £150. Independent learning means self-reliance and extending learning beyond the classroom. However, every year nominated candidates go far beyond this description.
We invite nominations from teachers and from fellow sixth formers. A panel of staff and governors then make a shortlist of those candidates who will do a presentation to the panel and answer questions.
Sports Challenge Award – All years, Overcoming adversity to pursue sports
This award was established in 2004 by the family of an ex-student who went on to excel, at a national level, in a sailing sport, despite having suffered a debilitating illness in her younger years.
When in Sixth Form she won the Fletcher Enterprise Award and used it to pursue further qualifications in her chosen sport. Her family were impressed with the effect that this achievement had on their daughter’s confidence and decided when she left the school to establish this particular award for other students to benefit in the same way.
The fund is awarded to those who have had to overcome some sort of adversity, for example financial or medical, in order to pursue a sport and is put towards such things as travel expenses, competition or training fees or to purchase necessary equipment.
Glyn Jones Award – Lower School
The Glyn Jones Award is a prize awarded for an outstanding contribution in the field of Citizenship, donated by the family of the popular and well-respected former Mayor of Gillingham.
The prize is given to a lower school student at Founders Day and consists of £75 and an additional £25 to be donated to a charity nominated by the prize winner, together with a shield engraved with the names of previous winners.