Application Guidance

About the bursary

Individuals from low socio-economic circumstances, who might not otherwise be able to afford to train with Humanists UK, and who live in the West Midlands region, can apply for this bursary. The bursary is for £1,000, which will be discounted from your training fee. The bursary is jointly funded by Birmingham Humanists and Humanists UK.

Making an application

To be eligible for the Bursary you must:

• be a resident of the West Midlands

• be over 18 years of age

• be a member of Humanists UK

• have passed a ceremonies training screening interview, or been told you have

• passed the application stage. You do not need to have been offered, or to have accepted, a place on a course at this point, only to have been told that you have passed the interview to join a course in the future.

• be able to demonstrate that you are experiencing financial hardship and cannot afford the training fees without some financial support

• be able to provide documentary evidence and complete a financial statement to support the requirement above.

You will need to provide a statement of no more than 1000 words, under the title “Why I want to be a celebrant” to Birmingham Humanists by email, as well as the bursary application form and evidence of your financial circumstances. This information should be sent to: birminghamhumanists@googlemail.com.

If no suitable applicants meeting the stated criteria are found in a particular year, Birmingham Humanists and Humanists UK reserve the right to consider others outside the criteria for that year’s bursary.

Evidence that you will need to provide

We may ask to see documentary evidence of claims you make on your bursary application form regarding your income and expenditure. Evidence we could ask to see might include P60s, payslips, self-assessment tax returns, tenancy agreements, bank statements, council tax statements, or loan or credit card statements.

How the bursary is awarded

Birmingham Humanists will review your application and let you know if you have been successful or not. If we decide that we need more information, we will arrange an online interview. If you are successful, the award will be discounted by Humanists UK against your course fees once your course is confirmed.

Not all applications are successful and we cannot guarantee you will be awarded the Bursary.