UNISON celebrates the Amos Bursary

UNISON was the proud host of the Amos Bursary’s 10 year celebrations last Friday. The Amos Bursary, a UNISON partner, supports young black men to reach their full potential through mentoring, sponsoring and advocacy. Assistant General Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “I’m happy that UNISON is able to support the Amos Bursary. I want young black men and women to see the trade union movement as something for them. Not to just join, but to be leaders of.” Founded by Colleen and Baroness Valerie Amos in 2009 after their parents died, the Amos Bursary supports talented students from challenging environments, in Year 12 for a total of five years: through their University experience and into the world of work or further study. Colleen Amos, who was awarded an OBE earlier this year, said: “We started with just seven young men. Ten years later we’ve got 100 young men who are on the programme currently, around 60 of them have now graduated. “And we’ve got 40 associates who are young men who didn’t make it onto the programme but we give them access to any opportunities we’ve got that they can engage with. The selection process is painful. Last year we had 195 young men apply for just 15 places. “The reality for gifted and talented young black men in the UK, is that it really doesn’t matter which social class is used to define them because they have the same challenges: they don’t have the networks and opportunities and they don’t have the ‘...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article black members young members Source Type: news