The Scholarship is the brainchild of Deborah Rowland, director of Public Affairs at Sodexo UK (pictured). A former IWFM Facilities Manager of the Year, she has been diagnosed with an advanced cancer, and instigated the initiative with a donation of her own money.
Introduced in 2024, and backed by the IWFM Foundation, the scheme provides disadvantaged young talent with financial and mentoring support. The Institute says it offers recipients ‘the opportunity to become the next leaders of the workplace and facilities management profession (WFM)’. Those selected by the judges receive funding to study for and obtain an appropriate IWFM-regulated qualification.
For 2025 the scheme is boosted by support from Xenon Group, an IWFM Recognised Centre. Director, Chris Morris, said, “We’re thrilled to support the Scholarship with a contribution of two regulated qualifications and four annual subscriptions to XenZone – our new online training portal. We look forward to seeing how the entries and assessments progress, and to welcoming our first two scholars onto the programme later this year.”
Of the scheme’s 2024 launch, Deborah Rowland said: “I was astounded by the support given by the WFM community and from my employer, Sodexo. We were able to award two winners – TJ Robinson, an armed forces veteran looking to enter the world of WFM, and Paige Watts, who is at the beginning of her WFM career. Both have since begun their work towards IWFM qualifications with the support of their mentor, Liz Kentish.
“Addressing the widest possible audience of potential recipients is key. Getting information about this opportunity to the people that need it the most is the important part. This year we can widen the net. We have more time and more Scholarships to award. We need to get the message out far and wide to those not necessarily part of the WFM community, but who wish to be. I need help to spread the news to colleges, carers, SMEs, VCSEs, veterans, ex-offenders, and care leavers etc.
“Thank you again to everyone involved; I am looking forward to the applications for 2025. It is truly the best legacy someone can have.”
IWFM CEO, Linda Hausmanis, added: “I was both humbled and honoured to have worked with Debi last year to launch the Scholarship, helping to cultivate some of WFM’s most promising talent, and some to get a foot on a rung of their WFM career ladder. Having seen the progress of last year’s recipients, it’s again an honour to support the Scholarship, and to see it grow and expand to create an even bigger impact. I encourage prospective applicants to apply, for willing donors to contribute what they can, and for the community to spread the news of this exciting scheme far and wide.”
Applications close on 30 June.