I thinking of doing a post graduate course (only thinking...nothing set in stone yet).

Other than begging and pleading with the day job employers to sponsor me, has anyone any thoughts about how to get funding to cover the costs of the fees (it looks like the courses range from £1-2,000 per year)?

I'm wondering if there are any organisations that sponsor individuals to do post graduate funding?

I'm not looking for a student loan btw.

Thats OK as you can't get a student loan for post-grad studies (unles things have changed!) You may possibly be able to get a career development loan to cover it but in all honesty for most MAs/MScs its now a case of paying for it yourself :( PhDs tend to be funded - but nor funded well - by the research councils

There is some funding available for postgraduate students (well loan) in the form of a career development loan,
have a look here

http://www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/cdl/

apart from that it depends what course you'd like to do, as there is funding available from various councils for various things. For example the stats MSc at Sheffield Uni is funded, or a least has a certain number of funded places, and I believe others are the same. Cost of course seems to depend on what it is.

CDL's are only offered by Barclays, Co-operative and RBS, I believe. A better option is the equivalent from HSBC, called something like a training loan. If I had my time again, I would get this one. It gives you six months grace after the end of your courser, rather than one. And its about the same level of interest. Other banks may also have similar things, but only 3 are fully sanctioned by the government. You shouldn't have any trouble finding someone to take on your debt.

Its also worth checking out any industry specific sources of money. There may well be bursaries from professional organisations. A friend of mine got money from some mining engeneers organisation to help with an archaeology PhD. They were just looking for people to spend their pot of money on, what with there being virtually no mining in the country any more. University departments also give bursaries, but you have almost no chance of this unless you are already kown to the right people, in my experience.