Christ’s Hospital of Abingdon supports the education of local children in two ways:
1) Grants for State-funded pupils: The Heads of schools in Abingdon may apply to Christ’s Hospital for an annual grant to be spent at their discretion to aid the education of children from needy families. Heads have in the past used this money to enable children to go on school trips or to participate in certain other activities, or to purchase items of school uniform. To meet the requirements of the Charity’s charter, the grants may not be spent on items that the public purse can provide and the beneficiary must live in the town of Abingdon. The grants at present are £750 annually for each local primary school and £1500 annually for each secondary school. At the end of each year, the school must present an account to Christ’s Hospital, showing how the grant was spent: it is then normally topped up again for the next year. Schools should submit applications via the Charity’s office.
2) Grants for non-State-funded pupils: In extreme cases of unforeseen misfortune or adversity, the Charity may consider assisting with the school fees of pupils already in independent education if they would otherwise suffer from moving to alternative education at a critical stage of their school career. In some cases the Charity will also consider offering support to enable pupils with particular specialist needs to join an independent school. Funding in either case is limited to 25% of fees and must be matched by a grant from the school itself. All applications must be made through the relevant school to the Charity’s office.