To apply for an award from the Fund you will need to fulfil the following criteria:
You MUST be a Roman Catholic or a member of a faith that is in full communion with Rome.
You MUST be aged between your 16th and 25th birthday on the day you commence your Project.
The minimum length of Project for which we will make an award is 15 working days – in effect 17 days with a day’s travelling time to and from the project location. Therefore, Individual Projects that are shorter than 17 days will not be eligible for an award from us.
You MUST give full details of two Referees. You must contact them BEFORE you submit your application and ensure they give permission for us to contact them by email if we deem it necessary to do so. For every application, we will contact your Religious Referee to confirm that you are a Catholic. Without this reference, no award will be paid or money released. It is your responsibility to ensure that your Referees reply to our email request. The sooner they supply any required reference, the better to avoid any delay in making payment.
You MUST complete all sections of the following application form as fully as possible.
All Projects must clearly involve the implementation of Christian, and particularly Catholic, principles. They must be of benefit to others and assist the personal and spiritual development of the applicant. Projects may be undertaken by an individual, jointly with others, or under the aegis of other organisations.
All awards are made irrespective of the country in which the applicant resides, or any connection the applicant may or may not have with the Catenian Association. Awards are based solely on the quality of the application received and are entirely at the discretion of the Trustees of the Bursary Fund.
Although the applicant must be Catholic, or a member of a faith in full communion with Rome, those benefitting by the work of the Project are not limited by country, culture or creed.
When giving details of the Project, applicants should provide as much information as possible to assist the Trustees in making their decision. This should include details of any organisation arranging the Project and an outline of what the applicant anticipates doing during their time on the Project/activity.
Projects that are an intrinsic part of an educational course will not be considered, irrespective of the amount of coincidental collateral good they do for those being assisted, e.g., medical electives. However, an award may be made for a specific Project undertaken during the year between school and university, or during the time between university and employment, or Projects that are not a part of the curriculum of the qualification being studied and organised in the long vacations.
The Catenian Bursary Fund will not provide direct funding for any other charity or cause. We exist to help young Catholics help others.
Awards are not made retrospectively. The Trustees will assess awards received from time to time, and it is your responsibility to ensure that you apply in sufficient time to allow the Trustees to process and assess your application, including collecting references, before you depart for your Project. You should therefore allow an absolute minimum of 8 weeks between the date that the Trustees receive your application and the date you intend to depart to carry out your Project.
If an award is accepted, the recipient agrees that he or she will have no claim against the Catenian Bursary Fund arising from the provision of this award.
All successful applicants will be expected to report back to the Fund after the Project. This report may take the form of:
A written, illustrated report of about 1,000 words.
A video report showing the applicant’s life on the Project. Applicants who decide to complete a video report are reminded to get the permissions of individuals shown in the video and permission to use any accompanying background music track before they submit their report.
Applicants may be required to prepare and give an audio/visual presentation of at least 15 minutes to a local Catenian Circle or church group.
All reports (in whatever form), in whole or in part, and any photographs or video images supplied will become the sole property of the Catenian Bursary Fund Ltd and may be used to further promote the Fund.