Hospices, Partnerships
The MCF’s new Bursary Scheme with Hospice UK
The MCF’s Charity Grants team has been discussing with Hospice UK the ways in which we can provide more strategic support to hospices through our core hospice grants programme.
The MCF bursaries for hospice staff aim to improve the quality of care given to patients, their carers and families by supporting the professional development of individual staff, significantly increasing their expertise in the work they do, rather than training or updating them in the basic skills needed for their role.
Another key issue that the hospice movement is keen to address is the challenge of staff retention, which is a problem in the health sector as a whole, but particularly in hospices. In order to improve hospice employee retention, we have created an MCF professional development bursary scheme with Hospice UK, in consultation with the MCF board and Freemasons.
The new bursary scheme will have the same amount of funding as before (£300,000), and will provide grants for hospice staff to take courses such as in palliative care or dementia care to help them deliver better and specialised support to patients. This new scheme replaces the core hospice grants programme, as the previous small, unrestricted grants proved difficult to track in terms of their effectiveness and real impact.
Hospice UK is delighted to be managing the new £300,000 bursary programme funded by the MCF. The first MCF bursaries have already been awarded and received with much enthusiasm, and as the programme develops we look forward to allocating more bursaries and learning about the impact of the funding. On behalf of hospices throughout England and Wales, the generosity of the Masonic community has been hugely appreciated – thank you!
Hospices in every masonic Province in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man are eligible for funding. In order to spread the funding equally, there is a maximum amount of around £1,700 available to each organisation. Those who apply must be working in an eligible organisation as one of the following roles: Nurse, Healthcare Assistant, Doctor, Allied Health Professional, Social Worker, Bereavement Counsellor, Administration Staff, Spiritual Care Worker, Pharmacist, or Complementary Therapist.
Individuals can apply for a maximum of 50 per cent of course or module fees, up to £1,500 in any one year (subject to funds being available).
