Annual Appeal 2023

Support our Pupils

Since it began in 1997, our Foundation Places Programme - which provides bursaries towards fees, as well as help towards books, uniforms and the technology needed for today’s education - has supported over five hundred children to gain a Watson’s education. These truly life-changing opportunities have only been possible thanks to the wonderful generosity of many people within our community.
 
Last year we were able to provide Foundation Places for 97 pupils, at a cost totalling £1.2million. This was an amazing achievement, but demand for our places continues to grow. In August 2022, almost 25% of all pupils joining S1 benefited from Foundation Places that contributed at least 75% of their fees.
 
So we are able to meet the ever increasing demand and continue to reach communities across the City where families may otherwise be unable to consider a Watson’s education, we need more of our community to pledge their support by committing to a regular donation. Will you help?

Kieran Wilson’s Story (Class of 2010)

One of the many examples of how life changing a Foundation Place can be is Kieran, who clearly remembers sitting his entrance exam and worrying that, no matter how well he performed, his family would struggle to afford his fees. Thanks to the Foundation Places Programme, Kieran thrived at Watson’s and went on to achieve a 1st Class Law degree at the University of Cambridge. Now a Barrister at Littleton Chambers in London, Kieran makes regular donations to the Family Foundation.

“My time at George Watson’s College set me up to succeed in life. I benefited from a huge range of what the school offered that otherwise wouldn’t have been open to me, both in and out of the classroom. The skills, opportunities, and experiences that Watson’s (and in particular its inspirational teachers) gave me have gone on to shape my personal and professional life in the years since. I also gained some of the best friends anyone could ask for, many of whom I remain close to today.

For me, making a monthly donation to the Family Foundation is just a small way of giving back. It’s a means of recognising the impact that the generosity of donors to the Foundation has had, and continues to have, on my life, for which I’ll always be grateful. And it allows me to contribute – even if only in a small way – to giving young people now similar opportunities to the one I was so fortunate to receive.”
Kieran Wilson
(Class of 2010)