The aims of the scholarships and awards are to enable young people from both countries to study or take part in cultural exchange programmes in the United Kingdom and Sweden. We have built up a small portfolio of annual scholarships in association with educational establishments, as detailed below. These form the main part of the annual spend. But in addition to the major scholarships we are able to respond to requests for smaller sums for one off events. Some examples are given in the annual reports.

The major scholarships currently cover the areas of music, language studies, visual art and culinary art.

Music: This is an annual award to help with tuition fees for Swedes undertaking post graduate training at the Guildhall School of Music in London. Applications are made directly to the School which recommends up to three students to share £5,000 between them.

Languages: This is an annual allocation of £2,000 to enable language students studying Swedish at UCL to attend summer schools and undertake research in Sweden. A small amount also goes towards the purchase of films and other study materials that benefit all of the Swedish language students at UCL.

Visual arts: This is an exchange programme between the Royal College of Art in London and Konstfackshögskolan in Stockholm, focused on students in the ceramics and glass departments. £5,000 is allocated between the two students to help with travel and living costs.

Culinary art: This is an award which was established in 2005 in association with the Restaurant School at Nyköping, Sweden, to enable students to gain experience by working in a UK restaurant or restaurant school.


Click here to view 2007 update from the Guildhall School of Music

2005-2006 Scholarships and Awards

Two students benefited from the society’s support for their music studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Lina Markeby is a Mezzo Soprano who aims ultimately to make a career as an opera singer. Emilie Hornlund plays the viola and a year as a post graduate student is crucial for her continued musical development. Neither of these music students would have been able to afford the postgraduate course without financial support.

Two UCL language students were able to attend summer courses in Sweden in the summer of 2005. Stephen Zill attended a summer course in Malung and Rhys Langely took part in the Uppsala Institute Summer School. The accounts of their time in Sweden show how much they learned of Swedish culture as well as the language.

A UK student, Laura Daniel studied ceramics and glass in Stockholm over a ten week period in 2005. She has provided an exciting account in words and pictures, indicating that her time in Sweden provided a life changing experience. The return visit took place later that year when a Swedish student, Christian Maldonado, studied at the Royal College of Art. He has documented some of his artistic production with a number of photographs.

The first culinary arts scholarship was awarded to a young Swede, Oskar Pettersson, to enable him to gain experience at Heston Blumenthal’s internationally renowned Fat Duck restaurant in Bray. This was the fulfilment of a dream that Oskar has had since starting his training at the Nyköping restaurant school three years ago.

A number of smaller awards were also provided in response to requests, the amount totalling to £2,500. This included funds to assist with archaeological excavations at Syon House of a 15th century convent in the order of Saint Birgitta. A donation was made to the Worksop Districts Scout and Guide Association towards the costs of sending an expedition of over 100 local children to camp with scouts and guides from Luleå in northern Sweden. This will be followed by a period of staying with families in Luleå. A donation has also been made to enable a number of youngsters from the Icelandic Horse Society to compete in the Swedish Icelandic Horse Youth Championships. Finally, funds were provided in response to an appeal for donations to enable urgent work to be carried out to enable disabled access at the Swedish Church in London.