YOUNG people in higher education and those starting apprenticeships or job training are urged to apply for Bromyard Grammar School Foundation grants.

The funding is available for people who live within the catchment area of Queen Elizabeth High School and are aged from 18-25 (or 16+ in the case of apprenticeships).

The deadline to apply for this year’s round of giving is Sunday, October 31. 

Grants can be used to help fund university or college attendance, purchase tools, books and membership of professional bodies, to cover travel costs and more. 

For application forms and full details of eligibility, visit the foundation’s Facebook page or email bromyardgsf@gmail.com.

According to ‘Bromyard – Minster, Manor and Town’ by Phyllis Williams, the history of education in Bromyard goes back more than 1,000 years. At this time the town was host to a college for the training of Anglo Saxon Priests, which, in time, developed into a school for children. The Bromyard Free Grammar School was officially founded and endowed in 1566 by Queen Elizabeth the First — whose name the town’s high school still bears.

Bromyard Grammar School was boys only until 1914 when it merged with Bromyard Girls High School.

Later, in 1961, Herefordshire County Council built a Secondary Modern school in Panniers Lane to improve education for youngsters who failed to pass the 11+ entrance examination. 

Then, in 1968, in line with national educational policy, Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School was amalgamated with the Secondary Modern to create what is now Queen Elizabeth High School. 

The Bromyard Grammar School Foundation charity was formed at about this time to ensure that the proceeds from the sale of the old Grammar School buildings, along with the rental income from the former Bromyard Grammar School playing fields, were used for the benefit of the young people of Bromyard and surrounding villages. 

To this day the Foundation Governors meet twice a year, in April and November, to ensure the finances are used in accordance with the foundation’s constitution and to the maximum benefit of the town’s young. Grants are normally paid out in December following the November meeting.