Millennium Healthcare Bursary

The Company embraced the 21st Century in a number of ways, one of which was to establish a Bursary for a qualified and established primary healthcare professional to carry out research or personal study into ways of improving the delivery of healthcare amongst the under-privileged sectors of London’s population.

Although it was originally aimed at General Practitioners, the scope of the Bursary was widened in 2003 and this has attracted submissions from, amongst others, nurses, midwives, speech & language therapists, mental health workers, a pharmacist, an opthalmologist as well as GPs.

The Bursary provides an opportunity for established primary health care professionals to enhance the health care of disadvantaged individuals and families in Greater London. It can:

• Provide funding for either small research projects or further professional development.
• Support a pilot study, prior to a more definitive research project, by providing protected time for the researcher or short-term funding for a research assistant.
• Fund further training or study likely to benefit the applicant's patients. Examples might include a Master's or Doctorate in Primary Care, relevant clinical training or other recognised post-graduate and post-qualification courses.

The following are all examples of projects funded by the Curriers' Company Millennium Healthcare Bursary:

• A holistic approach to the referral of refugees with mental health problems.
• Improvement in the delivery of treatment for TB amongst the homeless.
• A study of language skills of multi-ethnic children in East London.
• Improving primary care workers' responses to Intimate Partner Violence.
• Ante-natal care for traveller women settled in Hackney.
• An audit of mental health issues amongst South Asian women in Tower Hamlets.
• A series of training courses in palliative care for hospice and community care workers.

• Applications may be for a bursary of up to £7,500 - £10,000 (spread over 2 years).
• A supervisor of the programme of research, project or course must be appointed.
• Completed application forms must be received by 31st March.
• Short-listing of applicants takes place during April.
• Final Selection Panel by a panel of Trustees and specialists will be held in May 2024 and interviews may be held virtually.

• Successful applicants are normally informed on the same day.
• Ethical approval for research studies must be obtained before any funds can be paid.
• Where a bursary is to be paid in two or more tranches, a mid-term report is required before the second instalment is released.
• A final report is required, to include an account of how the bursary money has been spent.
• Advice can be provided on the subsequent publication of papers.
• When the findings are published an acknowledgement of the charity is required.

Please start by reading the Notes for Applicants. A single Bursary of up to £10,000 may be awarded annually, subject to funding availability, following an open competition held in April and May. Applicants may be from any speciality within the general definition of primary healthcare. However, it should be noted that the Bursary cannot be awarded to fund any undergraduate course of study or other training leading to an initial healthcare qualification.

If, having read the notes, you wish to proceed, your next step is to complete an Application Form. Click on the link to download and save this Word document onto your computer. You should then complete the form and send it, by e-mail to the Hon Sec to the Trustees at millennium@curriers.co.uk.

Please also use this email address for all general enquiries concerning the Curriers’ Millennium Bursary, or call on 020 8748 8076.

Click here to download an information leaflet.

The Curriers’ Company Millennium Trust – Registered Charity No: 1078793.