At the heart of AFT’s ethos is to ensure that our events and training courses are open to as many family therapists, systemic practitioners and students as possible. We aim to keep our membership fees and the charges for our activities as low as possible, while maintaining sustainability for the organisation and the capacity to invest in the future development of the organisation. We recognise that our members work and study in a range of environments, and that not all will have access to a budget for training and professional development.

With this in mind, AFT runs a new bursary scheme. This will be funded through a dedicated budget, and we are allocating a portion of the revenue from all of our paid-for activities towards the scheme. We anticipate the budget will be in excess of £3,000 each year, providing a number of free places for our annual conference, as well as other events and courses.

The bursary scheme aims to support the following objectives:

• To support AFT members to attend a conference/training event/webinar where the cost of registering to attend the event would otherwise be prohibitive.
• To particularly support access for groups that are currently under-represented in our activities, and to encourage greater diversity among those representing the profession in the public domain.

A number of bursaries will be available throughout the year and each scheme and its eligibility criteria will be advertised on this page and via our email newsletter.

Eligibility

The scheme is open to UK-based AFT members.

Some of our bursaries are intended for those who need financial assistance and financial circumstances will be assessed as part of the application process. We understand this is a sensitive matter and all applicants will be treated with respect and understanding.

Any information given as part of the application process will be confidential to the small number of people involved in the assessment process.

The bursary will only cover attendance fees and will not cover travel or accommodation.

Process

You can find details below of any bursary schemes that are currently open for applications. Please read the information about each scheme as they may have slightly different processes and may be targeted at a particular group.

In general, the process followed will be that the AFT office staff will receive applications and undertake an initial assessment to ensure that the application is eligible. Where the number of applications exceed the funding available, applications will then be passed to the relevant organising sub-committee for that event. They will decide which applicants would benefit most from the bursary, based on the information in the application form. Names and other personal information will be removed prior to assessment. Priority will be given to those who have not received a bursary previously.

The AFT board will receive a regular report on bursaries open for applications, the number of applications and the number of bursaries awarded.  

How to donate to the bursary fund?

If you would like to support our bursary fund and help fellow AFT members to access our events, please email our Operational Director Phil.  Your donation can be ear-marked for this budget and you will be helping to open up access to learning and development opportunities to others. Adding Gift Aid to your donation will add an additional 20%.

Current bursary schemes

AFT Annual Conference 2025 – 25 & 26 September

Application form

To make an application for bursary support to an AFT event please fully complete the form below.