Our History
Originally set up in 1750 as the St Marylebone Charity School, its first charitable act was to educate ten orphaned girls into service.
The charity changed over the following 184 years, becoming a girls’ school with many students, a uniform and boarding provision; it was co-educational for a time and finished as a girls’ school.
The St Marylebone Educational Foundation was formed in 1934, from the St Marylebone Charity School, when schooling was taken over by the Government and state schools first began. The St Marylebone C E School is the modern version of the St Marylebone Charity School.
The St Marylebone Educational Foundation’s purpose is to promote the education of young people with a connection to the City of Westminster with a preference to those with a connection to the historical Parish of St Marylebone. Within the purposes The St Marylebone C E School is given grant funding for those projects that are out of the scope of the Department for Education funding.
Grant Eligibility in 2024
Please note the Geographical Eligibility Criteria – without a 2 year connection to the City of Westminster your child will not be eligible for a grant.
Grants are available to promote the Education of young people under the age of 25 by awarding bursaries, providing financial assistance for outfits, clothing, tools, instruments or books to assist such persons to pursue their education, including the study of music and the other arts.
Grants are also available to City of Westminster based schools and organisations for capital funding for various projects.
Applications will only be considered from those individuals with a proven 2 year connection to the City of Westminster either by living or being schooled there. The connection must be shown for the individual requiring support.
Most funding is for education at primary or secondary level. Tertiary Education (university courses or other training after A’ Level’s) is not currently supported. Exception – see Music and Equipment Grants below
Grants can be for music lessons, equipment such as laptops and uniform grants can be secured via the St Vincent’s Family Project.
It is also possible to apply for a bursary towards the cost of school fees, please refer to the eligibility criteria below.
Extra Curricular Activities
Funding is also available for extra-curricular activities such as Music Lessons either inside or outside of school, Saturday School at a Performing Arts Centre, Tutoring Fees or Sports lessons.
Please ensure your child meets the Geographical Eligibility Criteria before applying.
Form to submit an application for extra curricular activities is found here.
Music students put forward by the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music are awarded grants annually. Students should approach their scholarships officer for consideration in the next round of grants. Please do not contact the Foundation directly.
Equipment Grants
Grants can be awarded for equipment such as; Laptops, Tablets, Data to access the internet and Text Books.
Most grant funding would be paid through the school the child attends.
Students in 6th Form, University or other Higher Education may also be eligible to apply for an equipment grant.
The suggestions listed above are not automatically funded by the Foundation and an application process must be followed to receive the final decision from the Trustees. It may be that your application is refused. Form to submit an application for equipment is found here.
School Uniform Grants
If you need financial help to purchase school uniform for your child at a mainstream Westminster School please contact the St Vincent’s Family Project. Their website address is https://www.svfp.org.uk
They are based at Central Hall Westminster, Storey’s Gate, Westminster, SW1H 9NH.
020 7654 5353, info@svfp.org.uk
The Project is in receipt of annual funding from the St Marylebone Educational Foundation for this specific purpose. Funding has been increased to £5,200 for the 2023-24 Academic Year and beyond.
Eligibility for School Fee Bursaries:
Bursaries for school fees will be considered only if the above geographical eligibility criteria has been met and the child falls in one of the categories below.
- It has been established, in partnership with the child’s current teachers or educational professionals, that the child’s needs cannot be met through state funded provision. Where support is requested, the parent or guardian must have applied for, and know the outcome of, an application for a place at a state funded school and explain why this school is inappropriate for the particular needs of the child.
- In professionally identified SEN cases, the parent or guardian should provide evidence of the SEN, for example, written confirmation from the school that the young person is on the SEN register. The Trustees may also consider applications from families where the parent or guardian is disadvantaged due to health issues or disability.
- In order to provide stability in education provision until the next ‘usual’ transition point, e.g. until the end of Year 6, Year 11 or Year 13. This would normally apply if fees have been funded by the child’s parent or guardian or with family support, and circumstances materially change. Day or boarding.
- (In the case of boarding provision) the circumstances at home are such that the child could not reasonably be expected to thrive. In professionally identified SEN cases, the parent or guardian should provide evidence of the SEN, for example, written confirmation from the school that the young person is on the SEN register. The parent or guardian should be aware that only the child in the application will be offered support. Siblings will not automatically be offered support.
In addition to one of the above criteria, partial funding is usually either in place or being offered by the school, another charity or source such as family members.
Please find the online form here for applying towards school fees.
Eligibility for Organisations
The Foundation’s Scheme limits the Foundation in its spending to certain aspects of Education.
The Foundation is unable to help with funding for running costs.
The Foundation may be able to offer help with partial funding for the following:
- Capital expenditure for improvement of the buildings or infrastructure that is an educational benefit over and above normal running repairs
- Enrichment of education through music or other arts
- Alleviation of issues experienced by those with special educational needs
The Foundation has a limited income, and it would depend upon the number of eligible applicants in any financial year and the purpose of the bid whether the Foundation would be able to consider bids up to £10,000.
How to apply for organisations
The Trustees ask that you submit a bid no longer than 2 sides of A4 detailing where and how the funds would be spent and what effect the funded changes would have on the children they are destined for and why. Please include information on other funding sources should there be any and the organisation’s last audited or examined annual accounts.
Submission deadlines for Organisations
The Trustees meet 3 times a year, March, June and October. Deadlines for application submissions are March 2nd, April 30th and August 31st.
To apply using an online application form please use this link. To apply with a traditional bid please email it to the Clerk.
How to Apply for an individual grant:
To apply for a grant for school fees, please fill in the online form found here or you can email the Clerk at applications@stmaryleboneeducationalfoundation.org.
To apply for a grant for equipment to assist education please fill in the online form found here or email the Clerk at applications@stmaryleboneeducationalfoundation.org
Without a 2 year connection, either by living or being schooled in the City of Westminster, your child will not be eligible.
Please note the submissions deadlines for individual applications below:
- The Trustees meet 3 times a year, March, June and October.
- Deadline for the March Meeting is March 2nd (after the secondary school places are announced on 1st March)
- Deadline for the June Meeting is April 30th.
- Deadline for the October Meeting is August 31st
If you are eligible to apply the Clerk will be in contact as soon as is practicable and will send you the relevant forms and information for your application.
For all other matters such as Organisational Grants please use our contact form below.
Please note: The suggestions listed are not automatically funded by the Foundation and an application process must be followed to receive the final decision from the Trustees. It may be that your application is refused, and you should plan for that eventuality.
To find other charities that may be able fund do try the Educational Trusts Forum .
St Marylebone Educational Foundation, 12 Melcombe Place, Marylebone, London NW1 6JJ
Email: clerk@stmaryleboneeducationalfoundation.org
www.stmaryleboneeducationalfoundation.org
Registered Charity No: 1199592
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