Our History
“Young people so often have swallowed the idea that ‘I’m not sure I can do this’. And the thing about getting the scholarship, is that it’s a vote of confidence. It’s saying to the young people, we believe in you”. Helena Kennedy KC
Birmingham City Councillor Eve Brook conceived the idea of the fund – to enable Birmingham care-leavers to go to university – in the months after being diagnosed with terminal cancer in the summer of 1997. She was inspired by the looked-after young people she met, and believed that many had capacities they could realise if given the chance.
Following her death on 3 March 1998, the Fund was launched at a memorial celebration of her life held at the Barber Institute at the University of Birmingham on 15 April 1998. Alongside tributes and music, the celebration was addressed by Fund patrons Simon Callow and the Baroness Helena Kennedy KC.
Helena Kennedy gave the keynote address at the event (read the transcript) and effectively reflected what Eve believed in, and everything which her Scholarship Fund stands for.
Shortly afterwards, the Fund gained charitable status and a Trust was set up, consisting of the Director of Social Services (the first being Richard Evans), a representative of Moseley Labour Party (Jonathan Bratt) and David Edgar, Eve’s husband. The Fund’s first secretary was Birmingham City Council aftercare worker Louise Bessant.
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