The General Council supports students by providing bursaries and scholarships through the Prince Philip Fund. General Council Prince Philip Fund This fund was launched as an appropriate way of expressing the General Council's appreciation of His Royal Highness the Prince Philip's long and distinguished service as Chancellor of the University and provides bursaries and access scholarships for students who would otherwise be unable to afford to go to university. The goal is to build an endowment substantial enough to support these scholarships in perpetuity. A typical bursary provides £1,000 of support each year for qualifying and deserving students. These new Bursaries are in addition to the existing Edinburgh Fund Access Bursaries, and it is hoped that together they will give hundreds of students the chance to take up their deserved places at the University. Prince Philip Fund contribution If you would like to support students by contributing to the Prince Philip Fund you can do so on our secure online giving pages. Single gift Regular donation Isla Whateley - new General Council Prince Philip Scholar Congratulations to Isla, our second General Council Prince Philip Scholar. Isla is studying Geography and Social Anthropology, and met the Secretary of the General Council, Dr Mike Mitchell, at a recent welcome event for new bursary recipients. She said of the award: "Receiving this bursary has been of massive help to me so far. It's meant that a lot of financial pressure has been taken off, and I don't have to find myself a job in order to finance my studies, which frees up time for me to settle into my course and my new life at University. Without the support from the bursary, I don't think I'd have been able to come to university! I am so grateful that I have received it - thank you!" Gordon Clark The first General Council Prince Philip Scholar was Gordon Clark, who graduated in the summer of 2014 with an MA in Ancient History, having changed tack slightly along the way, well done Gordon! When asked how receipt of this bursary had affected him he said: “When I applied to do Archaeology it was something that I was really interested in doing and without a bursary I don’t think I would be able to do it. I can enjoy what I am doing. It has given me more time to concentrate on my studies, it’s taken some of the pressure off me to allow me to enjoy university life. It could definitely help other people to go to university and to take up their place.” Watch an interview with Gordon. We wish Gordon every success in his future career! This article was published on 2024-07-08