Student Bursary GRANT SCHEME

If you are a student or young person living within the Carron Valley & District Community Council Area, you may be eligible to apply for a grant via VRG’s Student Bursary Scheme.

The Student Bursary Scheme pays £500 per year (up to a maximum of 5 years), and is open to students 16 years of age or older, who are in full-time further education (such as College or University) or on a recognised apprenticeship programme.

Applicants must be permanently resident (outside term time) in the Carron Valley & District Community Council Area.

Full details, including the application procedure and timelines can be found in the Guidance tab above.

Funding cycles

Following discussion at the Board it has been decided that grants will now run with VRG’s financial year July – June. A resident may apply for one grant in each category in each financial year.

Please note that a grant scheme may be closed if the funds are spent early, applicants will then have to wait until July. It is first come, first served.

One of VRG’s strategic priorities for 2015 to 2018 was “Creating Opportunities for Carron Valley Young People and Children to Grow”, which ties in with VRG’s objective of “advancing citizenship and / or community development”.

To meet this objective, VRG launched a Children & Young People’s Small Grant Scheme in 2015. To further support to young people in the Carron Valley area we later launched a Student Bursary Scheme. This scheme is funded via Craigengelt Wind Farm and will pay £500 per year (up to a maximum of 5 years) to each permanent resident of the Carron Valley area who is aged 16 or over, and enrolled in full time further education or an apprenticeship.

  • What is the award?
    If your application is successful, VRG will pay £500 per academic year to help you in your studies (up to a maximum of 5 years per individual).
  • The bursary is not means-tested in any way, and no receipts or proof of expenditure need be provided.
  • You must submit a new application form every year that you wish to apply. You can do this as soon as you have started your studies for the year.
  • Applications will be accepted throughout the year, but will not be back-dated for any previous years of study.
  • Recipients of a student bursary cannot apply for expenses related to the studies funded under the Young Person’s Grant scheme. This is a recent change to VRG grants therefore please email admin@valleyrenewables.co.uk if you have any queries relating to what can be funded.

Who Can Apply?

To be eligible for the Student Bursary, you must be:

  • Aged 16 or over at the date of application
  • Enrolled in full time Further Education (i.e. at college or university, not school), or on a recognised apprenticeship scheme or similar. Proof of eligible student status must be supplied with your application. This can take the form of:
    •  A copy of a current student ID
    •  A confirmation of enrolment letter for the current academic year
    • A student verification form signed and stamped by the institution
  • Permanently resident within the Carron Valley & District Community
    Council area. To qualify, your permanent address must be within the
    CV&DCC area. Living away for college or university during term time does not affect your permanent residency.

Please note that you must provide VRG with details of the course you are
studying. We may then check these with the institution to confirm, before
approving your bursary (by applying for a bursary, you give VRG permission to
do this).

It is not necessary for you or any member of your family to be a member of VRG in order to qualify for a grant.

Scheme Administration
Valley Renewables Group sets aside a sum of money each year to run the Student Bursary Scheme. Applications will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis, until this pot of money runs out. When this happens, any outstanding applications will either be fulfilled out of other VRG funds, or held until the next funding cycle begins.

Once a bursary has been approved, a cheque will be sent to the address you specify on the application form.

Timescales for applications
We will usually respond to grant applications within four weeks, but if we need to discuss your application at a board meeting, this may take up to six weeks. Please also allow two weeks after receiving notification of a successful application for the cheque to be issued. VRG’s board members are all volunteers, working in their spare time, so please be patient!

If you have any questions, or need help filling in the application form, please contact us

You can download an application form here: VRG-bursary-application-form-17-January-2025

Bursary application

VRG Bursary application

  • Bursary Application Form

    This form is for applications to VRG's bursary scheme.
  • MM slash DD slash YYYY
  • Please provide the name and email of the admissions department or a tutor who can confirm your enrolment.