SPVS Educational Trust grant applications open

A veterinary charity seeking to advance learning and encourage interest in the vet sphere is accepting grant applications from organisations or individuals seeking project funding.

SPVS Educational Trust is looking to fund suitable projects, educational schemes and research activities across the sector.

Those seeking funding are invited to contact trust chair and past SPVS president Ewan McNeill at [email protected] for further details; there is no deadline for submitting applications.

The trust is aiming to fund initiatives along similar lines to other projects it has recently provided grants to.

Mobile clinic

One such grant was a £1,500 award for University of Nottingham students’ Vets in the Community project, which runs a mobile veterinary clinic offering free health checks, vaccinations, microchipping and treatment for minor ailments and parasites to people experiencing homelessness or who are vulnerably housed.

A student involved in the project said: “I’ve seen first-hand the difference SPVS’s support has made.

“The grant has allowed us to fund essential medicines, equipment, and clinic costs, enabling us to support those who might otherwise have no access to veterinary services.”

Non-profit group Vet Sustain recently benefited from a £10,000 grant allowing it to develop an educational course centred around its mission to promote environmental awareness in veterinary practice.

The 10-module course tackles subjects including waste management, anaesthetic gas emissions, responsible medicine use and how to encourage team-wide behaviour change.

‘Invaluable’

Vet Sustain founder and director Laura Higham said the “critical” funding had been “absolutely invaluable” to the course’s development, adding: “Without this funding, we would not have been able to put together such a well-researched course, and the support we have had from the Educational Trust has made a significant difference as we strive to tackle the sustainability challenges facing our profession.”

RCVS Knowledge’s in-person Farm Vet Champions session at the 2023 BCVA Congress, which focused on tackling antimicrobial resistance, was also the result of £2,000 in grant funding.

The charity’s Farm Vet Champions’ clinical lead, Fiona Lovatt, said: “We are grateful to SPVS Educational Trust for the opportunity to discuss antimicrobial stewardship and support farm veterinary professionals.”