Congratulations to our successful Grassroots in Surgery scheme applicants

Congratulations to the organisations successful in our inaugural Grassroots in Surgery scheme, developed as part of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan following the Kennedy Review. By supporting their incredible work and forming these partnerships we aim to drive meaningful, tangible change in surgery.

This year, applications to the Grassroots in Surgery scheme were open from May until July. We received 28 eligible applications and are proud to announce that we will be funding nine projects by partnering with seven organisations:

• The Aspiring Medic’s Support to support a virtual mentoring scheme for medical students and junior doctors from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Hull University Teaching Hospitals to support their Surgical skills to Inspire Careers in Healthcare (SSTICH) course for sixth form students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Melanin Medics, a charity focused on ethnic diversity in medicine, to develop a new Surgical Insights Career Development Programme named in honour of Monica Lewin, the first Jamaican woman to be made a fellow of RCS England.  
• The British Association of Black Surgeons to fund a surgical course and a new mentoring programme.
• The Welsh Surgical Mentorship Scheme for an expansion of their scheme to additional career grades.
• The Surgical Society of International Doctors to help fund an online information resource for international medical graduates and a one-day conference.
• Scalpel, Manchester Medical School’s Surgical Society to fund a new Bridge to Surgery event for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The partnerships will run from 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2023. We encourage you to find out more via the links above.

We were impressed by the diversity of applications made and genuinely excited by each initiative. We are holding feedback conversations with several of the unsuccessful applicants and hope to find other ways to support their work.

For further information or enquiries about the Grassroots in Surgery scheme please email us.

Read more about our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan.