The Old Centralians' Trust is a sister organisation to CGCA. It is a registered charity and is dedicated to providing help to students for:
- hardship awards, to enable those with genuine financial issues to complete their studies;
- academic related grants, for example travel costs to present at conferences;
- non-academic awards for expeditions and projects to help the community.
In recent years awards have been made to support students presenting at conferences in the USA, to build rainwater harvesting systems in Africa, an expedition to Svalbard, and to several students who found themselves in financial hardship through no fault of their own. Reports from many expeditions and projects are published in Imperial Engineer.
Principal student awards
Students may apply for these at any time. Applications must be made through the Old Centralians' Trust Applications Portal.
| Award | Description | Value | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Award | General Awards can be made for any student led endeavour that furthers the educational aims of the Trust. These awards have historically supported: students who demonstrate exceptional involvement in extra-curricular activities, expeditions, sporting tours, educational visits and financial assistance in many other ways. | Varies | Any student or group of students from the Faculty of Engineering. |
| Hardship Assistance | The Trust provides financial support to any students of the former departments of the City & Guilds College who, after having taken up their course at Imperial, face genuine financial hardship through no fault of their own. | Varies | Any student whose course is centred on any of the former City & Guilds College Departments. |
| Holbein Travel Award (Undergraduate Travel Award) | The Holbein Travel Award is intended to assist an engineering undergraduate in undertaking a study project abroad during the summer vacation. | £600 | Any undergraduate student whose course is centred on any of the former City & Guilds College Departments. |
| Fenton Travel Award (Undergraduate Travel Award) | This award is restricted to an overseas project or work placement during the summer vacation, involving railway construction or bridge building anywhere in the world, or alternatively work of any kind undertaken within the Indian Sub-Continent. | £600 | Any undergraduate student whose course is centred on any of the former City & Guilds College Departments. |
| Postgraduate Travel Award | This award is available to help cover travel and subsistence costs (not conference fees) in attending a relevant conference for the purpose of presenting a technical paper. The level of this award depends on the level of support given by the student's Department, by the Research Group, or by any other sponsors. | Up to £600 | Any postgraduate student whose course is centred on any of the former City & Guilds College Departments. |
| Centenary Enterprise Award | This award can be made to a student, or group of students, who are judged to have devised the most imaginative and enterprising proposal of an extra-curricular nature. | £750 | Any student, or group of students, from one or more of the former City & Guilds College Departments. |
| Principal student awards | |||
Other student awards
Students are unable to apply directly for these awards. The nomination process varies and is summarised below.
Student activity awards
In 1991, the then president of CGCA, Mr Eaton ‘Robby’ Robinson, proposed to hold an appeal to buy a house in London that could be made available as student accommodation. This proposal did not come to full fruition, but some three years later in 1994 it was decided to institute one award in each Department known as an 'Accommodation Bursary', to be awarded to the student judged by the Senior Tutor & HoD to be most active in student affairs.
These awards were later increased to three per department each year. In 2005, the Trust decided to re-name the awards as 'Student Activity Awards', and these were first awarded in 2006 in the seven former 'City & Guilds College' Departments, with two awards per department. After two years of successful operation, and in agreement with RSMA, the awards were broadened in 2008 to be awarded in all nine departments of the Faculty of Engineering.
Value
£750
Eligibility and nomination process
Application for these awards is made within each department, in response to a notice distributed during each Spring Term by the Senior Tutor. Students are required to provide a brief statement as to why they feel they should qualify, based on their level of extra-curricular activity.
Each Department then provides two nominations to the OC Trust, and the names have to be ratified by the Trust Board. The awards are then made available at the commencement of the next Autumn Term, provided that the students concerned have satisfactorily registered for the next year's study.
The Jessel Rosen Travel Award (Undergraduate Travel Award)
This award is made is made to support an undergraduate from EEE, in their penultimate or earlier year, to obtain overseas professional experience.
Value
£600 (plus £40 admin)
Eligibility and nomination process
Only EEE (and ISE) undergraduates are eligible. Nominations are made by the EEE Department, so prospective applicants should discuss their plans initially with the EEE Senior Tutor.
The Jessel Rosen Research Award
This award supports an undergraduate student in their penultimate or earlier year, for a research topic of not less than six weeks during the summer vacation, carried out at the College.
Value
£600
Eligibility and nomination process
Only EEE (and ISE) undergraduates are eligible. The student may be of any nationality, but must be domiciled in the UK. Prospective applicants should discuss their plans initially with the EEE Senior Tutor.
John Elliott Bursaries
First awarded in 2000, these awards are made automatically to nominated officers of the City & Guilds College Union, for the purpose of assisting them with the additional expense of fulfilling Union office. The awards are named after Mr A J Elliott, FCGI, who served the OC Trust for a period of 27 years, holding office as Hon Secretary and as Chairman for significant lengths of time.
Value
£450-750 (varies by officer)
Eligibility and nomination process
These awards are made automatically.
Peter Moore Memorial Fund Award
This award takes the form of an engraved tankard presented each year to the student appointed as driver of Boanerges (Bo'), the College's vintage car mascot.
Value
£100 and an engraved tankard.
Eligibility and nomination process
This award is nominated by the CGCU.