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Youth Circus Access Scheme
Circomedia’s Youth Circus Access Scheme offers bursaries for both our regular Youth Circus classes and our Holiday Youth Circus Camps. These bursaries provide free or subsidised places for children from low-income households who may not otherwise be able to attend. Priority is given to low-income families in areas of Bristol that are identified by the council as having high levels of deprivation, however anyone is welcome to apply and we take more into account than household income alone.
About Youth Circus Bursaries
Circomedia is committed to making circus more accessible to a wider range of people. As part of this, we aim to help families overcome financial barriers which prevent them from accessing our Youth Circus classes and camps.
We offer full- and part-funded places for our regular after-school Youth Circus classes, and our Holiday Youth Circus Camps during school holidays.
Bursaries are available for ages 4-18. To find out more about who’s eligible, how to apply, and how we make bursary decisions, please read our information below.
Who can apply, and how are decisions made?
You can apply for a bursary if you are unable to fund, or fully fund, the cost of a Youth Circus space yourself.
You don’t need to live in a particular area as long as you can arrange travel to and from classes or camps yourself.
There are no set financial thresholds for who can apply (e.g. you don’t need to have a household income of under £x per year or be in receipt of certain benefits). This is because we recognise that lots of factors make up a family’s individual financial circumstances.
Whilst we do take household income into account, we also look at other factors affecting your financial situation. This could include other dependents in your household, significant expenses outside of the cost of living, and other childcare or extracurricular expenses.
We use a points-based system to ensure bursaries are allocated as fairly as possible. Decisions are primarily made based on financial barriers to accessing our programme, but we also consider location (based on Bristol’s areas of deprivation indices) and general opportunity for accessing other similar services.
We won’t consider a student’s suitability in terms of their skill level, previous experience, or enthusiasm for circus. This is because our classes and camps are suitable for all levels and we actively encourage beginners to join. Therefore, it wouldn’t be fair if we assessed bursary applicants based on these factors.
Apply For A Bursary
To apply for any of our bursaries, please complete our online application form here.
This form takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Please ensure all sections are filled out accurately and fully.
Consider getting the following ready before starting the form:
- Household income figures
- Details of any benefits you receive, and any other financial details you think we need to know
- Details of other extracurricular clubs your child attends
Upcoming Bursary Deadlines
For Summer Youth Circus Camp 2022, submit your form by Friday 17th June 2022. We’ll finalise decisions by 24th June 2022.
Find out more about Summer Camp (including dates, times & locations) here.
Get In Touch
If you have queries about our Youth Circus Access Scheme, please contact the team at youthcircus@circomedia.com or call 0117 924 7615 (Mon – Fri, 9am – 4pm).
