Amberhawk Training today announces the creation of the Shelagh Gaskill Bursary, which provides up to £1,000 towards the cost of legal training in freedom of information and data protection. The bursary is a progression of the Shelagh Gaskill Scholarship that was successfully administered by international law firm Pinsent Masons following Shelagh’s death in 2006. The scholarship operated for three years and provided training in data protection and freedom of information for charities and those in the voluntary sector. It supported a number of major charities such as Shelter and Barnardos as well as smaller ones. The new bursary carries on this work.
The Shelagh Gaskill Bursary is intended to help charities, hospices, housing associations, voluntary and community organisations. These bodies are subject to some very difficult data protection issues but have limited resources available to fund the cost of training employees in information law. The bursary continues to mark Shelagh’s significant contribution to this area of law and her role in championing the rights of individuals.
Rosemary Jay, partner at Pinsent Masons said, “Pinsent Masons has a strong commitment to support for the voluntary sector, as shown by our award-winning CR programme. We were proud to launch and support the scholarship during the past three years and delighted to see that Amberhawk is carrying the excellent work involved.”
Sue Cullen, director of Amberhawk Training, said, “I knew Shelagh for more than two decades and worked with her for much of that time. The bursary is created in her name to commemorate her drive to apply her unrivalled knowledge and skills in defence of individual rights.”
The bursary gives individuals working for not-for-profit organisations responsible for information law compliance the chance to obtain data protection or freedom of information training by taking the Amberhawk courses at a reduced cost. As well as providing the tools to perform their jobs more effectively, candidates who succeed in the examinations will benefit by acquiring a formal, nationally recognised qualification from the Information Systems Examination Board (ISEB).
Sue Cullen concluded, “We hope that the new bursary will help successful applicants to apply their learning and new skills for the benefit of the wider community.” Further details of the Shelagh Gaskill Bursary and a personal memory of Shelagh are available from the link on the home page of Amberhawk (www.amberhawk.com).
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