The program is a piloted program funded by the Sisters of Mercy Brisbane to assist with breaking down barriers some community members face when starting or continuing study. The program involves 2 rounds of scholarships being offered each year.
Find out more at https://qld.vinnies.org.au/services/education-and-employment/toowoomba-scholarship-program I have included the link to the program for your information.
The scholarship has 3 components to the program:
1. Financial funding up to $1500 to go towards their study eg: computers, internet costs, course fees, travel etc
2. Mentoring program – Each scholarship recipient is matched with a Learning Partner, who is a volunteer. The Learning Partners offer support and guidance to the recipient assisting where they can but they do not do any assignments etc. They are there to help ease the burden of study. We all need someone in our corner sometimes. All Learning Partners are trained and go through all the relevant checks
3. Community Learning – quarterly networking/training sessions are organised for the recipients. These sessions are designed to give the recipients an opportunity to meet with other students in the program as well as training on different topics. To date some of our sessions have been on “Being Job Ready” and “Personality styles” and the next session will be “Your Rights as a Tenant”.
The Scholarship Program is open to all residents of Toowoomba who are not currently at high school. If the applicant is under the age of 18, they will need to have a guardian present to sign off on the scholarship application.
Round 6 of the program will open on the 14th September 2021 and SVDP be looking for deserving community members who are needing some assistance with their study. The scholarship applicants can be anyone in the community who is looking to either begin their study journey or who are already enrolled in a study program and looking for additional help.
SVDP are also looking for community members who are wanting to give up 1 hr of their time every fortnight to be a support person for the students while they are involved in the 12 month program.
Any interested parties are welcome to contact Mary Wells at mailto:Mary.Wells@svdpqld.org.au for more information or for the application form that will be available from the 14/9/21.