AS they celebrate 20 years of the Aisling Bursaries, the West Belfast Partnership Board have announced the continued sponsorship of the Kennedy Centre.

John Jones, Centre Manager of the Kennedy Centre, said: “Yet again the Kennedy Centre is delighted to be involved with the Aisling Bursaries. The Bursaries epitomise all the positive values of the West Belfast community by giving those who need it most an opportunity to take a further step on their educational journey. The Aisling Bursaries success is clear by the length of time they have continued for. This is a great initiative that we are very proud to support.”

The Aisling Bursaries are part of the fabric of West Belfast and are awarded by West Belfast Partnership Board to the young and the not so young to enable them to take, begin, continue or return to vocational training or academic studies. Sponsors of the Aisling Education Bursaries include businesses, community enterprises, families and individuals.

Geraldine McAteer, CEO of West Belfast Partnership Board said: “As we celebrate 20 years of the Aisling Bursaries, we are absolutely delighted and heartened that once again the Kennedy Centre have sponsored a Bursary. The Kennedy Centre have been supporting the Bursaries since the first year in 2000 and we are very grateful for the value they place on the Aisling Bursaries and on the people of West Belfast. In particular I would like to thank Curley Kennedy, a visionary who has supported West Belfast through good and challenging times – his support for education in West Belfast has been unwavering for twenty years. 

“We would like to thank John Jones and the Kennedy Centre and all our wonderful sponsors who have supported us and the community of West Belfast over the past 20 years by donating £665,000 to 806 recipients to help them realise their dream of entering further/higher education or vocational training.” 

Applications are now available to download at westbelfast-partnership.com

If you don’t have access to broadband, please call 02890 809202 and the partnership will post you out a form with details on how to return your application. Closing date is Friday 24 July at 4pm.