KAA students awarded Aldridge Foundation “Next Steps” Bursaries

by Vashti Turner  on May 5, 2022  in  Academy News

To celebrate its 15-year anniversary, The Aldridge Foundation have created the Next Steps Bursary programme to support young people to overcome barriers or challenges that may be standing in the way of them taking their next steps into further or higher education, or employment. 

The bursaries give any student from across the Aldridge family of schools, in Y11 upwards, the chance to benefit from financial and other valuable support to help them overcome barriers, fulfil their potential and achieve their dreams. As well as the financial support, the Next Step Bursary recipients will also receive mentoring support and will be part of the Aldridge Scholars network, learning how to inspire the next generation to realise their ambitions and achieve anything they want in life, regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds.

All awardees have shown not only commitment to their studies throughout their time at school, but also demonstrated a passion for helping others. They are keen to inspire, inform and guide the next generation of students through mentoring younger students and acting as Ambassadors, participating in the Aldridge Foundation’s activities and fundraising in the future.

This week the successful applicants were awarded bursaries, and 40 Next Steps Bursary Awardees will now receive financial and other valuable support (mentoring, internships and networking) worth a total of over £250,000. We’re delighted to announce that five students at Kensington Aldridge Academy have been awarded bursaries ranging from a one off £1,000 bursary to three year bursaries of £3,000 per year, to assist students as they begin their university studies.

Sir Rod Aldridge OBE, Chairman & Founder of the Aldridge Foundation said “‘I started the Aldridge Foundation 15 years ago because I believe that all young people deserve an equal chance in life and where you come from should not dictate where you are going. This belief remains at the centre of everything the Foundation does.

We are fortunate to work with so many talented young people however we see many of them facing challenges and barriers that make it difficult for them to follow their dreams when they leave school. That’s why we launched the Next Steps Bursary programme. Through providing young people from low socio-economic communities with financial and other valuable support, such as mentoring and coaching, we’re helping them to overcome these challenges, develop the confidence to believe that anything is possible and to begin the career journey they choose.

It’s been a very rewarding experience to meet and hear the ambitions of so many of the young people we support during this process and I look forward to seeing them succeed.”

One KAA bursary awardee, Johansel, said: “As I will be living far from home, in Scotland, next year, my parents cannot support me financially so this would really not have possible without the bursary. I am also thrilled to benefit from mentoring to expand my knowledge about my future academic and professional interests in chemistry and medicine. Thank you so much for this support!”

Another KAA student successful in securing a Next Steps bursary, Lily, said “I was very pleased and grateful to the Aldridge Foundation for placing their confidence in me and for rewarding my efforts so far. The bursary will support me with my first year living expenses but I am also really looking forward to the mentoring as I think an experienced adult will be able to positively influence my decision making. Thank you so much for this added boost to my biomedical engineering university studies.”

David Benson, Principal at KAA, thanked the Aldridge Foundation for supporting KAA students, saying “All students have benefited from participating through the application process, and that a number have been selected for the bursaries to support them throughout university will be nothing short of life changing. I feel very privileged to have had this support for our school.”

Huge congratulations to Ebony, Salma, Johansel, Lily and Jaafar and our thanks to the Aldridge Foundation for these life changing bursaries for our hard working students.