25 Years of the Eve Brook Scholarship Fund

In 2023, the Eve Brook Scholarship Fund (EBSF) celebrates a quarter of a century of helping Birmingham care-leavers to go to University. On 27 February, we launched a new film about our work, produced by the Birmingham film makers TinkerTaylor.

The film was launched at an event attended by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Maureen Cornish, the Deputy Leader of the Council, Brigid Jones, the Chair of the Birmingham Children’s Trust, Andy Couldrick, and a number of past and present beneficiaries.

A new award, in the name of our former Treasurer John Rouse, was presented to former beneficiary Kim Cormack, as a contribution to the budget of her upcoming show, The Big O, which has upcoming performances in Wolverhampton, Coventry and Birmingham.

Our Patron Baroness Helena Kennedy KC spoke to the meeting from London. Here is a selection of photos of the event:

During the last 25 years, the Eve Brook Scholarship Fund has spent £425,945 supporting 283 young people in higher education (See our Aims and Objectives)

The Fund is an independent charity that works closely with Birmingham Children’s Trust. (See How the Fund is run). The Fund was founded by Eve Brook, a former Birmingham City Councillor and Chair of Social Services, in 1998 shortly before her death from cancer. Eve was passionate about improving the chances of young people in care and celebrating their achievements – the EBSF aims to do just that.

Subjects studied by recent beneficiaries range from drama, creative writing and animation to engineering, biomedical science, forensic psychology and law. Currently, the Fund spends over 95% of what it spends on helping young people.

Our schemes include bursaries to meet ongoing expenses; one-off grants for special equipment and materials; free places on short courses; and a £3,000 postgraduate bursary.

In our last year, we raised around £30,000 and spent just under £40,000. To continue our work, we rely on raising money from our annual fundraising events, and from donations by supporters who take out standing orders, individual donations, and grants from trusts and foundations.