Queen Victoria School is in the enviable position of having a number of benefactors who have donated money for the benefit of our pupils.
The donations are held within three funds which have different purposes. Details on the funds are given below:
- Queen Victoria School Fund – This is the main fund and it is used to directly, or indirectly, improve life for the pupils at QVS by providing non-essentials which the MOD would not fund e.g. providing money for house events and luxury items.
- Norman MacLeod MacNeil Trust Fund – Applications for funding are invited from pupils to participate in physically demanding or cultural activities which can be shown to have educational benefits or where it will develop the qualities of leadership, self-confidence and self-esteem.
- The Scholarship Fund – Families experiencing financial hardship are welcome to apply for funding to help support pupils, about to leave QVS, through further education.
Donations
If you would like to make a donation to the school please contact Caryn Webster on 0131 310 2994 or email at [email protected].
QVS Charity Funds are administered in accordance with the Scottish Charity Regulator’s (OSCR) rules.
The Norman MacLeod MacNeil Trust Fund
The fund was established in 1994 by Mr. Jack MacNeil of Connecticut USA, in memory of his father, Norman MacLeod MacNeil.
Norman MacLeod MacNeil [1898 – 1952] was boy drummer pupil at Queen Victoria School from December 1909 until July 1912 when he departed for Canada at the age of 14. He worked in various logging mills before responding to the 1914 WWI call up joining the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, located in Vancouver.
At the young age of 17 he was on the front lines seeing action at Vimy and the Somme. In 1927, after the War, he returned to Canada where he married and had children. Returning with his family to Vancouver, in 1931, he purchased a small piece of waterfront property on which the family home was erected. During the latter part of WWII he joined the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers whose purpose was to help protect the West Coast of British Columbia against any potential attack.
Norman was an excellent amateur photographer and he had 11 pictures published in a May 1948 National Geographic article of the sailing ship PAMIR. He gained public recognition in 1938 when the Post Office Department used one of his prints for the 50-cent postage stamp. He also enjoyed reading and writing poetry for local papers.
In recent years the Trust Fund has partially funded many pupils in a diverse range of activities. These have included qualifications in Highland Dancing, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, a US Hockey Scholarship and an Open Water Diving and Boat Handling Course. GAP years, Link Exchanges and CCF camps and expeditions have also featured, covering locations on almost every continent. Other projects have included charity events, several of which have included groups walking The West Highland Way and climbing Ben Nevis.
Applications can be made to the QVS Resources Manager. The closing date for applications is Easter, and this normally results in payment at the end of the summer term.
The Scholarship Fund
Applications from pupils and families experiencing financial hardship will be considered by a panel of Trustees. Genuine evidence of hardship will have to be provided and each application will be determined on a case by case basis. As funding is limited the level of support may vary depending on application numbers and case specifics.
Initial applications may be routed to the Trustees through the School Business Manager or the School Resources Manager. Applications should be submitted by Easter in the pupil’s final year at QVS.