For generations, The Academy community has seen the need to provide Bursary support for talented youngsters whose parents do not have the means to pay fees. War widows after the Great War of 1914-18 were, for example, given special help to ensure that their sons could continue to benefit from an Academy education.

Bursary Testimonials

Garry Watson left Glasgow Academy in 1958.  He is a former managing director of Hill Samuel Bank (Head of Investment Finance), Legal Services Ombudsman for Scotland and a Governor and Deputy Chairman of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute in Aberdeen. He is currently a Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Places for People Group, one of the largest UK providers of mixed tenure housing.

'I was born in July 1940, two months after my father was killed in the defence of the Dunkirk perimeter.  My parents had been married for just over two years and my father had taken over management of the family coopering business a couple of years earlier.  Wartime was not a good period for making and repairing whisky casks.    The prospects for my education looked grim!

Fortunately, my father attended Glasgow Academy before completing his education at Sedbergh.  With the support of the War Memorial Trust I entered the Academy in 1947 and from then until 1958 the cost of my education was largely taken care of by the Trust.  From school, I went on to qualify as a chartered accountant and a subsequently rewarding career in merchant banking, as Legal Services Ombudsman for Scotland, and now as a non-executive director.  I will always be grateful to the Trust and to the school for the start that it gave me in life.

The Glasgow Academy is a now a very different school from the one I left in 1958.  It has seized its opportunities and provides an impressive experience in terms of activities that could not be dreamt of at that time.  Thankfully, there will be few demands like that of mine in 1947, but its capacity to provide bursaries to those who would not otherwise be able to afford its fees will enrich the lives of those who benefit from them and the school as a whole.  I hope that members of the Academy family will continue to give the Bursary Fund their generous support.'

Garry S Watson OBE (1958)

Richard Munday left Glasgow Academy in 1994.  Moved by the plight of underprivileged children in Africa, last year he gave up his job to work in an African orphanage during which time he climbed the continent's three highest peaks to raise much-needed funds.  He now works for an aid agency in Sudan and is planning to climb the world's highest mountains to raise money for the poor.

‘I grew up on a Council housing estate near Glasgow.  After spending one year at my local comprehensive, my parents felt I wasn't being challenged and I was fortunate to be awarded a Bursary to join The Academy in 1989. This changed the course of my life.

For the first few months, it was a complete culture shock and I was miserable. I had left my old life and my friends behind, the workload was demanding and I faced a long journey to school by bus, train, and Underground. The discipline was alien to me and I stuck out like a sore thumb as the only pupil wearing a uniform in my neighbourhood. However, The Academy served to broaden my narrow horizons and gave me opportunities that I would never otherwise have had. I was not only stretched intellectually, I was encouraged to become a more rounded individual through participation in team sports, CCF, Arts and Crafts, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme and in many other ways.

The Academy taught me self-discipline, self-belief and respect for others and I'm proud to be part of The Academy family.  However, without a doubt, the most important legacy for me is the friendships I formed at school. My school friends are my friends for life.’

Ricky Munday (1994)

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