Fundraising in the UK for Roma scholarship programme

An absence of opportunities for direct support to talented Romani college and high school students has led the ROMEA organization to create this unique five-year project. 

The purpose of the program is to build up the Romani middle class in the long term, which will benefit not just the Romani community, but also the rest of society.

The aim of my call is to support more students with their studies. During this school year the organization ROMEA, o.p.s.  was contacted by more than 130 applicants for our scholarships, but we only have enough funding to support 60 of them.  

For that reason, we accepted the challenge of the US-based Bader Philantrophies Foundation, which has said that if we can raise CZK 125 000, they will match it.

I would like help with this campaign as an ambassador for the program and I believe that together with you we can achieve this. If we succeed we will support a minimum of 10 more students with their studies as well as other forms of support.  They will be able to afford other training courses or attend weekend meetings with other Romani students from all over the Czech Republic.

I had the opportunity to attend one such meeting myself, as you can see in these photographs. I met many interesting Romani high school and college students from different disciplines there, such as medicine, psychology, the natural sciences, information technology, and college preparatory students. These are skilled students from impoverished families who want to achieve more in their lives. They are motivated to study. The more we support them, the better will be the position of the Romani community in the Czech Republic. 

This program offers scholarships in open academic scholarships to Roma students of secondary and higher vocational schools who are citizens of the Czech Republic.
 Eligible applicants must be admitted or taught at a secondary school with a GCSE or a higher vocational school in the Czech Republic. Priority is given to students from public schools, but also private students, state-accredited schools. Up to 20% of scholarships can be made by distance learning students.
 The project also includes support for Roma scholars of the RMUSP Scholarship Program, from which successful applicants receive financial support. Our program does not provide finance to these students, but provides and provides students with tutoring or various training courses to help them prepare for exams or write their diploma work. They also provide internships in state, non-profit organizations, as well as in commercial entities.
 For both groups of students, joint weekend meetings are also planned to support Roma identity, self-awareness, but also other areas useful for their professional and personal growth. The meeting will be led by Roma personalities and professionals in their fields (eg journalists, artists, people working in public administration, etc.).
 The aim of the project is to support approximately 100 Roma students annually - of which 50 secondary school students, 10 students of higher vocational schools. 40 university students will offer tutoring and further education.