Educational Development Fund History

For many years the Institute’s fund-raising and charitable efforts were concentrated solely on the Benevolent Fund.  By the middle 1990s, however, it was becoming apparent that there was a declining need for this fund owing to the widespread provision of occupational pension schemes in the industry.  For this reason it was felt appropriate to offer branches and Institute members an additional option for charitable donations.

 

An Educational Fund had been established in Australia some time ago and it was recognized that a similar arrangement could be used to ‘prime the pump’ of educational developments for the benefit of members in the UK.

 

It was not intended that the fund should be used to provide substitute funding for existing educational provisions, instead the fund rules allowed only for new initiatives to be supported. Council also agreed that part of the money should be used to support activities for the wider benefit of the Institute and Industry, while the rest should be used at branch level to provide some tangible benefit which was accessible to the ‘grass-roots’ membership.

 

The fund was established in 1996, with an initial transfer of funds from the Institute’s main financial account, and subsequently grew through donations from branches and from individuals.  Educational initiatives were considered by a specially formed Educational Development Fund Committee, a sub-committee of the Education Committee.  Guidance notes for the use of the fund were produced by a Working Group and agreed by Council.

 

In 1999, following the receipt by the Benevolent Fund of a large bequest from the estate of the late Gerald Marshall, the Benevolent Fund and Educational Development Fund were combined to form the Educational Development and Benevolent Fund, see sections 6.01 and 6.02