The DanceEast Bursary Fund is an access scheme to provide children and young people in Ipswich with free places in our classes and school holiday activity, so that all children and young people can experience the joyful benefits of dance.
Dance Classes
The DanceEast Bursary Fund provides children and young people from 0-16 years with a free place for one term (10 weeks) in one of our dance classes. The fund is intended for young people from low-income households, who love to dance or would like to try dance for the first time, and who would otherwise not be able to afford a term’s worth of dance activity.
Funded places will be offered each term on a first-come-first-served basis and are available to book on our website or over the phone. Just give our friendly Box Office team a call on 01473 295230. Participants/Parents/Carers will need to meet the following criteria to be eligible for a bursary:
- Must live in Ipswich.
- Must be between 0 and 16 years old.
- Be in receipt of free school meals or universal credit.
Bursaries are available for any of the following classes:
- Dance for Tots (1-4 years | Mondays or Saturdays)
- Creative Dance (4-7 years | Mondays or Saturdays)
- Creative Dance (8-11 years | Mondays or Saturdays)
- Springboard Juniors (8-15 years | Mondays)
- Hip Hop Dance (9-16 years | Wednesdays)
- Youth Contemporary Level 1 (11-16 years | Thursdays)
- Youth Contemporary Level 2 (11-16 years | Saturdays)
Participants must attend at least 7 out of 10 classes each term to retain their bursary place. If 3 or more classes are missed without explanation, the bursary will be withdrawn.
Follow the hyperlinks above to find out more about each class and to book your place. Just select the ‘£0.00 Bursary Place’ option when booking. Dancers can expect to learn new skills, build stamina and strength, and improve balance and coordination, as well as have fun, make friends, and become part of the DanceEast community.
The deadline to apply for a funded place in the autumn term is Friday 20 September at 10am.
If you also need support with travel arrangements to and from classes, please speak to our Box Office team by emailing info@danceeast.co.uk or calling 01473 295230.
School Holiday Activity
The DanceEast Bursary Fund also offers bursaries for our half term activity, following the same criteria as above. We run half term activity in February and October half term so check our website over the summer to find out our October plans.
In addition to the DanceEast Bursary Fund, DanceEast also offers activity funded by the Holiday Activity & Food Programme. The programme offers fun, enriching activity to young people in receipt of Free School Meals. Currently, our Let’s Dance! Holiday Clubs are funded by this programme and offers free places to those who meet the necessary requirements.
If you have any questions about our classes programme, school holiday activity, bursary scheme or DanceEast, please get in touch with our Box Office team on 01473 295230.
If you would like further information about how to donate to the DanceEast Bursary Fund, please contact our Head of Communications and Development, Bryony Hope at bryony.hope@danceeast.co.uk
We would like to thank Ipswich Borough Council, The Belstead Ganzoni Charitable Settlement, Suffolk Community Foundation’s RJB Grantmaking Fund, Maurken Fund and Port Community Fund for their generous donations towards the DanceEast Bursary Fund and their support to allow us to continue our mission for everyone to experience the joyful benefits of dance.
