We are pleased to announce that applications for the Anne Wingate Paterson Scholarship (for research in the field of child abuse and neglect in the UK) are open for 2021. They must show how research will have a specific impact on Scotland.

The scholarship fund was established in 2018 from a generous legacy left to the AoCPP by Anne Wingate Paterson who died in 2016. Anne was a dedicated member of AoCPP and left provision in her will to support an annual award for the study and prevention of child abuse and neglect in Scotland. Details have been developed with the help and support of Anne’s surviving family, and we are grateful to them. Read more about Anne and the life she dedicated to protecting vulnerable children below. 

The main focus of the scholarship fund is to promote the study of child welfare and protection. It provides individuals with the opportunity to pursue postgraduate study at a UK Higher Education Institute in the field of child abuse and/or neglect (CAN). Proposed studies must address one or more of the following:

• identification of CAN;
• research to have a specific impact of CAN in Scotland;
• effective responses to CAN;
• Prevention of CAN.

Awards will be made to individuals with a place on a postgraduate programme at a UK Higher Education Institution and will be up to a value of £5000. The awards are provided to fund the payment of course fees.

For details, including eligibility criteria and how to apply here. The application form can be downloaded here.

About Anne

Anne Paterson was born in Edinburgh but grew up in Glasgow and spent her life between Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. She came from a family with a medical background, studied social sciences at Edinburgh University and started her professional career as a medical social worker, and almoner, at the Central Middlesex Hospital in London where she was attached to the chest unit, a multidisciplinary team. A major part of her work was working with lung cancer patients but also patients with mesothelioma.

Following the reorganisation of social services she became a generic social worker in the London Boroughs of Brent and Westminster. Child protection in the early days was managed by today’s equivalent of the NSPCC before being taken over by Local Authority social services. In Brent and Westminster the emphasis was on children and families. Anne worked with the first Afro-Caribbean children to be accommodated in the boroughs. Anti-racist practice was always at the forefront of everything she did. Anne kept her interest in young people going when she retrained as a Youth and Community worker at Moray House College in Edinburgh. Her focus on child protection for individual children shifted to a focus on child protection within the community. She was a Project Leader for Ruchill Community Safety and Health Issues Project, a drugs prevention project for children and young people aged 8 to 13, in Glasgow before moving back to Edinburgh and taking up two posts, first as Senior Health Promotion Specialist in cancer prevention and then Community Worker for Edinburgh City Council based at Kirkliston.

In retirement in Edinburgh Anne did things for herself but these were all with and for other people. She sang in a Gaelic choir. She volunteered as a guide at Newbattle Abbey. Importantly she volunteered for BASPCAN. As an active member of the Scottish branch she supported the running of BASPCAN conferences across the UK. She never lost her passionate commitment to supporting children and young people.

The endowment of a scholarship fund in the UK ensures that we can continue to support high quality research which will make a difference to practice in Scotland.

For details, including eligibility criteria and how to apply here. The application form can be downloaded here.

The closing date is 11th June 2021