Fellowship Fund

The GFW Benevolent Fund is an important part of the Guild’s remit to provide assistance to members in need. The money added to the Fund annually is based on a proportion of subscription income, and cases are considered on a strictly confidential basis.

 

However, as a result of low uptake plus negligible interest rates, the fund was neither gaining us extra money nor helping members in acute financial need. This situation may of course change in the future and there is no question of discontinuing the Benevolent Fund nor changing its primary purpose, but in consequence the Committee took the decision that a portion of the Benevolent Fund should be used to broaden the definition of ‘assistance’ to members.

 

In 2018, the name of the Benevolent Fund was thus changed to ‘The Guild Fellowship Fund'. This reflects the fact that some money will be available each year to help members in the form of a ‘Futures Fund’ grant to help with work-related projects that they would otherwise be unable to afford. The amount used in this way will be limited to guard against excessive depletion of the Fellowship Fund and its main purpose.

 

 

Futures Fund Applications

 

A total sum of £2,000 is ring-fenced each year for the purpose of such Futures Fund grants. These are awarded to a member or members who make a suitable request, as detailed below. Thus, each year there may be a single award for the total sum or a portion thereof, or there may be several awards, each for a portion of the total sum. There may be years when only a portion of the request is granted or indeed no grant is awarded. Any remaining funds are rolled over to the pot for the following year.

 

The member or members are required to make a written request of no more than 500 words, including an outline of the project and its merits, the amount required, what the money would be used for, including a breakdown of estimated costs, and any details of potential publication plans in order to justify the awarding of the grant. We are particularly keen to support projects for which there is no other funding (smaller applications for things like book purchases are also encouraged). Fuller details on how to apply can be found below.

 

The decision to make an award for either the total sum or a portion of the ‘pot’ as detailed above will be made on merit by a small panel of former and current officials of the Guild as approved by the main committee.

 

Awards will be at the panel’s discretion, and the operation of the scheme will be periodically reviewed by the committee.

 

The successful recipient or recipients should be willing to give back to the Guild in the form of a workshop, lecture, panel membership, website or newsletter contribution on the completion of their project. They should also endeavour to acknowledge the assistance of the Guild when the research is published.

 

 

Terms and conditions

 

The award is open to Guild members only. 

 

The proposal can be for a cookbook, article or similar intended to be published in print or electronic form in the English language.

 

The application can be made either by post or electronically to admin@gfw.co.uk.

 

When making your application please provide the following:

- The Project Title

- A summary of the proposal in no more than 500 words

- The requested amount plus an estimated budget breakdown.

- Research plans plus a provisional timetable.

- Publication prospects or plans

 

We do not foresee the need to hold interviews with the member/s applying but reserve the right to ask for further information about the project.

 

Supporting documents are welcome but not necessarily required.

 

The decision of the Guild to award any bursary is final and no correspondence will be entered into.