Conference funding - q about UK's "statement of support"

[haltheincandescent]

Hi all,

I'm sending a proposal to a conference in the U.K., and in reference to funding for student presentations, they say this:

"Applications should be made online at the time of the submission of a paper or panel proposal for the Conference. Those who wish to apply for a Conference Award should tick the box to that effect and, in the space provided, add a statement of support for their application."

My question then is, what is this statement of support? Looking elsewhere, it seems as if this can either mean a sort of personal statement/further explanation of my project's importance, or a letter of recommendation - the latter seems the more common use, but at the same time, given my experience in the US system where rec's are generally confidential/sent separately, I wasn't thinking that at first. Any help from those more familiar with this terminology? Thanks!