Through donations, bursaries and awards, the Tallow Chandlers’ Company supports schools, including three flagship London schools, further and higher educational establishments and organisations linked by trade. We enjoy a continued relationship with our Past Award Winners, who are invited to a special annual supper at Tallow Chandlers' Hall.
Our Flagships
The Company first began supporting Grieg City Academy in 2013; it is a mixed, non-selective secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 18 and there are just over 1000 pupils on roll, including Sixth Formers. On leaving school, the students typically go on to university, employment or apprenticeships. Currently two Tallow Chandlers’ Company members sit on the school’s Board.
The Academy has supported the construction of a bespoke STEM centre which is used for robotics, coding and electric car racing, and Primary school outreach, and teams have successfully competed in the annual VEX World Robotics Championships in Dallas, USA. The school also has a thriving Sailing Club, with teams competing in the ASTO race, the Etchells Worlds Cowes and the Round the Island Race. To find out more about the school, please visit their website.
The Company supports pupils both inside and outside the school gates, the latter by supporting relevant charities and youth organisations in the regional area, examples include The Smallpeice Trust Arkwright Engineering Scholarship and Voyage.
Leigh Academy Halley, supported by the Company since 2016, is a mixed secondary school for c1000 pupils aged 11 to 19, with 30.3% of students eligible for free school meals. The school is part of the Leigh Academies Trust. Two Tallow Chandlers’ Company members sit on the school’s Governing Board and one sits on the Trust’s Board as a Director.
The school opened a new (Tallow Chandlers') Engineering and Design Centre in 2022, which inspires students to achieve their potential in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Students go on to take up places at Oxbridge and Russell Group universities, specialist colleges and universities, apprenticeships and training. To find out more about the school, please visit their website.
The Company supports pupils both inside and outside the school gates, the latter by supporting relevant charities and youth organisations in the regional area, examples include Platform Cricket Project, Ceres Reimagine Science Competition and Roots4Life.
Supported since 2016, Cubitt Town Junior School and Infant School merged in 2022 to create Cubitt Town Primary School, a mixed community school for 700 pupils aged 3 to 11 with 56.2% of pupils eligible for free school meals. Two Company members sit on the school’s Board.
The school guides pupils with a strong vision and set of values, and offers a wide range of activities and experiences, from running The Daily Mile on its own running track, to poetry and science competitions, trips and outings in and around London (including to the Tallow Chandlers’ Hall), and VIP visits. For more information on the school, please visit their website.
The Company supports pupils both inside and outside the school gates by supporting relevant charities and youth/educational organisations, examples include London Symphony Orchestra, Open City, The Children’s Literacy Charity, Adopt A School (Royal Academy of Culinary Arts), Reed’s School’s Launch Car Challenge and Platform Cricket Project.
Donations, Bursaries and Awards
- City of London School
- City of London School for Girls
- Guildhall School of Music and Drama
- Reed’s School
- St Paul’s Cathedral Chorister School
- Selwyn College Cambridge
- Sir William Perkins's School
- University of East London School of Health, Sport and Bioscience
- University of Manchester School of Chemical Engineering & Analytical Science
- Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, including bursaries funded by the Anya Sturdy Charitable Trust
- City & Guilds Health and Social Care Award
Those supported by the Tallow Chandlers' Award include
- FOSFA International course participants (The Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Association)
- Manchester and Salford Universities Royal
- Naval Unit seagoing students
- 206 Squadron RAF flight test pilots
There is also a joint Tallow Chandlers / bp bursary for bp apprentices who wish to study for a relevant degree.
Candidates for bursaries are selected by each establishment, with the final decision being made by the Company's Education and Charity Committee.
All winners receive a certificate of excellence and some are given an engraved silver candlestick and/or a Tallow Chandlers’ gold medal. The candlestick represents our origins in the tallow trade.
As a general rule, we do not make awards to students who apply to us directly.