Reparative rest bursaries: what we learned from two years of testing

What we found…

• Rest was the primary need. Reparative rest was the most in-demand bursary across all four rounds, consistently outpacing attendance bursaries.

• Recipients consistently described two kinds of impact: the practical - reduced financial pressure, something to spend on wellbeing - and the symbolic.

• Process design is a form of care. The simplicity of the application process was a design choice: bureaucratic complexity is itself a barrier worth measuring.

• The opt-in model has a structural limit. The people most eligible for the rest bursary are sometimes the least likely to ask for it.

• The model travels. At least two institutions began exploring how to replicate the scheme during the pilot. Seeing something done - at a funder's invitation, within a mainstream programme - gives other organisations both permission and a template.