The Northern Programme is a major scholarship programme administered on behalf of The Sievert Larsson Scholarship Foundation (“SLSF”) and Create Your Future by a team at The Toonpanya Foundation (a charitable foundation basedin Chiang Mai). This programme, which was started in 2010, has already benefited many hundreds of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Northern Thailand and currently supports 350 to 400 students at any one time. This programme looks to support students who are not only in great financial need but who also show great potential and commitment to making the most of this opportunity.

Candidates for the scholarship programme are able to apply through their existing schools and/or through partner organisations. These partner organisations work at local community level and have excellent networks and experience within schools and other organizations working with children and families in their respective areas. Working with schools and organizations in this way helps to broadcast the opportunity to as wide a number of deserving students and potential candidates as possible.The schools and partner organizations can also help identify students who best fulfill the programme’s scholarship criteria. Once an application has been received by the Northern Programme team, the team will then arrange to go and visit the relevant student, conduct an interview and make a decision as to whether or not to award a scholarship as soon as possible thereafter.

If a student is awarded a scholarship and accepted into the programme, then the team will arrange to conduct an interview with the student every term. These interviews provide an invaluable opportunity to catch up with the student; to check how they are progressing both in their studies and outside their studies; to try to help out or provide guidance on any major problems they may be having; to put them in touch with other scholarship students (or the many hundreds of ex-scholarship students) who may have trodden the same path before and therefore be able to help them out or provide further guidance; to discuss how they are managing their finances; to make sure the student is not at risk of dropping out; to discuss how their plans for the future are evolving; and to provide the student with guidance and encouragement towards their goals and dreams.