The Jean Milligan Memorial Fund (JMMF) was set up in 1978 in honour of the Society’s founder.
The intention was to use the funds for the work of the RSCDS worldwide and initial suggestions were made that it should be used to fund more scholarships, including music scholarships. Since its inauguration, bequests to the fund have increased the capital considerably and the fund will remain a memorial to Jean Milligan in perpetuity.
Currently, the JMMF is used for scholarships (for Summer School, Spring Fling, and for worldwide scholarships up to £1,000 per annum), supporting Branch teaching events and other activities that promote Scottish Country Dancing and its development. The International Teacher Development Fund (administered by Education & Training Committee) is also supported by the JMMF. In 2009, the Management Board agreed that the RSCDS should be more proactive in its use of the JMMF to both further the aims of the RSCDS and support its objectives.
The key changes to the process are:
- All applicants must complete an application form, which can be downloaded below
- New guidelines to help applicants, which can be downloaded below
- Three closing dates each year for the receipt of applications
- Pre-application advice available from the RSCDS
- All applications should demonstrate links to the Society's Strategic Plan - see guidelines
- All successful applicants will be required to provide the Society with a brief synopsis of how the funding has helped their event
- Information on the use of the fund and what was spent each year will be published on the RSCDS website, with a summary of the projects approved
Applications should be sent to:
- Sandra Parish (Finance Manager): sandra.parish@rscds.org, or;
- RSCDS, 12 Coates Crescent, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH3 7AF
Applicants for scholarships (Summer School, Spring Fling, etc.) should complete the appropriate application forms, which have their own deadlines separate from those for JMMF applications.
The JMMF continues to be available to support Scottish Country Dancing events across the world.
Reports
Read up on some of the amazing initiatives that have been supported through the JMMF!
Report from the Vernon Scottish Country Dancers, British Columbia, Canada.
Our 22nd Annual Scottish Country Dance Workshop and Ceilidh was held on Saturday April 28th, 2018 and was attended by 51 enthusiastic, eager and energetic dancers. Our instructor Bob Anderson from Victoria, British Columbia put us through our paces, teaching some new moves, new dances and all the time reminding us of proper etiquette and trying to rid us of bad habits! The Queen of the Accordion, Mary Ross from Victoria, BC, supplied us with music for both the workshop and the Ceilidh that followed – what an incredible musician she is!
Dancers came from all over British Columbia including Vancouver Island, (400 miles away) and Medicine Hat, Alberta (over 500 miles away), contributing to a wonderful reunion of old friends and the opportunity to make new friends in this marvellous community of Scottish Country Dance.
We are incredibly thankful for the JMMF grant which helped pay the day’s rental of the Paddlewheel Park Hall which is located right on the waterfront of Okanagan Lake – a spectacular location to showcase this event. After the break, one of our dancers, Eric Kean played his bagpipes to welcome us all back into the hall for the Ceilidh and then led us in a Grand March.
Judging by the smiling faces at the end of the day, it was a very successful workshop with new dances learned, new friends met and good memories all around.
Kathy Drew, President,
Vernon Scottish Country Dancers
Submitted by Saskia de Graaf, a young dancer from Wellington, New Zealand.
The 2017-18 New Zealand Summer School held in Masterton was a spectacular event. It was a week packed full of dancing, live music, meeting old friends, making new friends, and a swimming pool that we made use of daily (to combat dancing in temperatures of up to 30˚C).
The JAM class had yet another amazing teacher, Andrea Wells, who came up with some very interesting dances for us to learn, such as Schiehallion and Father Connelly’s Jig, as well as new techniques to help us improve our footwork. We also had a lot of fun learning the rocking step in time for the Glasgow Highlanders which was on a couple of the evening programmes. As always, my favourite part of the school was the evening dances where I had the chance to meet and dance with people I only see at Summer School.
I would like to thank the RSCDS Youth Services for giving me a scholarship to attend the school. It was an amazing week that I would not otherwise have been able to experience.
Saskia de Graaf
