Boeing to contribute £60,000 to the Open University Disabled Veterans Fund

Boeing is to contribute more than £60,000 to the Open University Disabled Veterans’ Scholarships Fund.

The Scholarship Fund gives disabled veterans across the UK the opportunity to access life-changing education free of charge. Boeing’s contribution to the Fund will help more former servicemen and women plan for the future and a fulfilling career.

“Knowing that up to one in five veterans are discharged due to disability, it is important for us to support the transition of disabled service leavers to a fulfilling civilian life and career,” said Sir Martin Donnelly, president of Boeing Europe and managing director of Boeing UK and Ireland.

“I’m proud that we are supporting the Open University’s life-changing Disabled Veteran’s Scholarship Fund, and it is an honour to contribute the transformative effect that learning can have.”

This grant to the Open University is part of Boeing’s 2019 global charitable grants package totaling more than £36 million announced yesterday.

“One key pillar of Boeing’s community activity is support for veterans’ recovery and rehabilitation programmes and workforce transition services. In the UK, Boeing donates more than £450,000 each year to charity. The Disabled Veterans’ Scholarships Fund launched in 2018 is the first of its kind in the UK. It enables disabled veterans to study for free, alongside receiving specialist disability support and careers advice. The scholarship programme is dedicated to furthering the education of men and women who have become disabled in, or due to, military service.”

“This support from Boeing is vital to helping us bring the life-changing benefits of education to veterans who are building new lives following the unplanned end of a military career. Upon leaving military life, veterans’ transferable skills – developed in a unique environment that demands excellence – can make a huge contribution both socially and economically. We know that higher education can be a valuable tool in identifying and harnessing those skills and carving out a new career path,” said Jhumar Johnson, Director of Development at The Open University.

The Open University say that the Disabled Veterans’ Scholarships Fund has so far awarded 105 scholarships over the last two years.

“The scholars have been from all four nations, spanning a wide age group from under 30 to over 60, choosing a wide variety of subjects across all faculties of the University from Science, Computing & IT and Business through to Design, Psychology and Sport.”