Hundreds more vulnerable or disadvantaged children are expected to receive bursaries to attend boarding school, following the planned merger of two charities.

The new organisation will be formed from a merger of the Royal National Children’s Foundation (RNCF), which traces its history back to 1827, and the SpringBoard Bursary Foundation, which was founded in 2012. The Princess Royal is due to launch the new charity later this month.

Ian Davenport, who describes himself as “de facto chief executive” of both organisations, said that SpringBoard will be funding 300 children to go to boarding school this September, while the RNCF would do so for 370 children.

However, he said the combined figure would rise to 1,000 in two years’ time, following the merger.

Speaking at the Boarding Schools’ Association’s conference in York yesterday, Mr Davenport said: “The reason I have said I thought this will work really well is because it is going to touch much more lives, more broadly.

“The second thing is that I hope we will bring a very strong pastoral connection into the home life of the community, because that’s right at the heart of the SpringBoard model.”

The biggest provider of bursaries

Mr Davenport said the new organisation, whose name has not yet been revealed, will be “by far and away” the biggest provider of this type of bursary.

He told Tes that the Charity Commission was keen for like-minded charities to come together, and added that the new organisation would be able save money through economies of scale, and use this cash to support more children.

He added: “We believe very strongly that the combined charity probably can shout louder than we could before. We can raise more money. We can have more children involved. We believe we will be able to transform many more lives.”

According to its website, RNCF “helps children facing abuse, neglect or trauma, by enabling them to attend state and independent boarding schools”.

SpringBoard provides full bursaries for children who come from a low-income background, are genuinely disadvantaged and would best benefit from boarding to go to state or independent boarding schools.

Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow Tes on Twitter and like Tes on Facebook