Bursary Policy

Writing West Midlands would like financial situation not to be a barrier in developing your or your child’s love of writing. We are funded by Arts Council England to work in the West Midlands region to encourage and support writing in all its forms.

Writing West Midlands is able to offer some limited bursary places for:

  • Spark Young Writers groups
  • One-off courses, workshops, conferences and the Summer School run by Writing West Midlands

 

Eligibility

In order to receive a bursary, you must be living or studying in the West Midlands region.

If you are unsure which region you’re in, please see the TLC Free Reads guidance, which follows Arts Council funding.

In addition, you will normally:

  • If you are applying for a child, the child would be eligible for Pupil Premium or Free School Meals

OR

  • If you are a student, you would normally benefit from extra financial support from your university or college

OR

  • Be in receipt of some form of Government assistance, for example Universal Credit, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Working Tax Credits or Pension Credit.

 

Attendance

Attendance at our groups matters. We reserve the right to remove you from our list if you miss three sessions in a row and to award another child in need the bursary.

Frequency

Generally, we are able to offer one bursary per participant, per school year. 

How To Apply

If you feel you would benefit from a bursary place, please either indicate your status on our registration form, or send a short paragraph of information about your circumstances to Emma Boniwell on emma@writingwestmidlands.org. We don’t require financial records nor any statement from a government agency but we will ask to see some form of proof of address of where you live or which school you attend (only required if you do not live in the West Midlands, but go to school in the West Midlands).

We will never share your information and once we have made a decision and let you know either way, we will destroy your application and won’t share your bursary information with anyone else.

We also won’t let anyone know you are in receipt of a bursary if you are awarded one.

 

Get Writing

If you’d like to submit a piece of your writing for possible inclusion in the magazine, please see the Get Involved page to see more details. This magazine is published online three times a year: summer (June/July), winter (October-December) and spring (February-April) terms.

Our Spark Young Writers groups for September 2023-June 2024 are now available to book, including three new junior groups for Staffordshire, starting in January 2024.

 

Young Writers can submit up to three pieces of writing to our online magazine. The deadline for submissions for Issue 28 is 26th March 2024. Full details can be found here.

Check out all our ideas for writing prompts at our Get Writing tab. A wide selection of images, videos and funsheets for young writers to complete.