On International Women’s Day (March 8), the YWCA Peterborough Haliburton has opened applications for the 2026 Hazel Education Bursary in support of the educational advancement of women who have experienced gender-based violence.
The organization’s board of directors, through its education awards committee and supported by community donors, offers bursaries between between $500 and $2,500 to women residing in the city and county of Peterborough and Haliburton County.
Applications are open until 4 p.m. on Friday, May 1 to women who have experienced barriers related to the impact of violence and abuse, have a dream to strengthen their economic security, and seek to further develop their formal or informal education or training.
Funding from the bursary can be used towards a range of educational pursuits from post-secondary programs and classes to skill enhancement, career training, and more. Women who have applied to or received the bursary in previous years are welcome to apply again.
A recipient of the Hazel Education Bursary says she is “truly grateful for the opportunity to share my experience.”
“The bursary eased the financial strain and provided me the opportunity to focus solely on my studies and make the most of my course certification,” she says in a statement. “Thank you for believing in me and for helping make this chapter of my life possible.”
The YWCA awards the Hazel Education Bursary in honour of a local woman who, while fighting cancer, removed herself and her three children from what her daughter describes as “a life of domination and violence,” and later used her experiences to help other women in similar circumstances.
Hazel passed away in 1996 after a long battle with breast cancer, and the fund was created in 1998 by friends and admirers to carry on her vision.
In 2021, the YWCA merged the longstanding YWCA Hazel Education Award and the YWCA Long Term Education Award, which was established in 2016, into the Hazel Education Bursary to simplify the application process for women whether their educational dream is a course, a diploma, or a degree program.
Every year since, the YWCA has opened applications for the Hazel Education Bursary on International Women’s Day. To honour Hazel’s own request, women from rural communities are given special consideration for the bursary award, given the unique challenges they face including isolation and lack of transportation.
To learn more about the Hazel Education Bursary and to apply, visit ywcapeterborough.org/education or contact Emily Jensen at 705-743-3526 ext. 120 or ejensen@ywcapeterborough.org.
All applicant personal information is kept confidential and applicant names are not shared with committee members.
With files from Megan Gallant.
