The UK's Biggest Boarding School Charity To Form
It was announced last week that the Royal National Children’s Foundation (RNCF) and the SpringBoard Bursary Foundation (SpringBoard) will merge and form the UK’s leading boarding school bursary charity.
HRH The Princess Royal was previously Patron of the RNCF, and will now act as Patrol of the new charity which will legally launch on July 1st 2017. As a result of this merger, more than 600 disadvantaged children will be able to attend UK boarding schools from this September, with the opportunity to fulfil their true academic potential.
Both the RNCF and SpringBoard have great experience in transforming chilren’s lives by enabling their education at boarding school. In 2015 research by the RNCF showed that 94% of vulnerable children supported by the charity completed their boarding school education and went on to lead full and safe lives. A Report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) in November 2016 highlighted that 96% of children supported by SpringBoard complete their boarding school education.
Kevin Parry, currently Chairman of the RNCF, will be the Chairman of the new charity . He said ""The merger of the Royal National Children’s Foundation and The SpringBoard Bursary Foundation will create the UK’s biggest charity provider of boarding school bursaries and will enable more children than ever before to access the life-changing opportunities provided by boarding. The creation of the new charity will allow us to increase awareness and support for our work with children who have been deeply disadvantaged, either by a lack of good fortune or by extremely difficult home environments. The merger also provides scope to streamline the two charities’ existing processes, to maximise the efficiency and impact of our charitable spending.”
Ian Davenport is currently the Chief Executive of SpringBoard and will retain this role in the new charity; he said: "With bursary school charities facing a record demand for the support they offer, the new charity will focus on building on the great work of the Royal National Children’s Foundation and The SpringBoard Bursary Foundation. The aim is to increase the number of children currently supported by RNCF and SpringBoard, taking the figure from 600 to 1,500 within the next five years. In doing so, the new charity will transform many lives and fulfil the boarding sector’s ambition to play a leading role in enabling social mobility.”
The new charity will continue to support those children previously supported by the RNCF and SpringBoard. Both of these charities have already carried out amazing work in supporting disadvantaged children, and their coming together is a positive step for all concerned.
