Scholarships worth more than 拢413,000 formally presented to students

Posted 17 February 2017

Bethany Williams, recipient of the Organic Farmers and Growers Scholarship - or Bill Allen Award - with Charles Peers, Director of OF&G and Stephen Clarkson, Certification and Compliance Manager

More than £413,000 in sponsorship has been shared between students at Harper Adams this year thanks to the work of the university Development Trust and the generosity of its donors.

The students, their sponsors, trustees and staff gathered on Wednesday to celebrate at the annual scholarships presentation.

Each recipient took a moment in the spotlight, being congratulated by a sponsor representative, before enjoying time to network with their supporters, sharing news and plans for the future.

In addition to a large number of well-established scholarship programmes, there were a number of new awards this year.

The Organic Farmers & Growers are funding a postgraduate scholarship for agro-ecology students. The inaugural recipient is Beth Williams. OF&G Director Charles Peers took a few minutes to pay tribute to Bill Allen, “a very special man, who would do all that he could to help his farmers”, in whose memory the scholarship is awarded.

Also new for 2016/17 are the David Lawson Scholarship, Anglia Farmers Scholarships and Tulip Foods Scholarship.

Dr Alastair Lawson set up the award in memory of his late father, a countryman and tractor enthusiast who worked in agriculture all of his life. The David Lawson Scholarship was awarded to Chaunce Barrett-Crosdil, who met Dr Lawson on Wednesday and shared an update on an adaptor for cab cameras, which he designed and is now selling successfully online. He said the scholarship would “allow me to work towards applying my design to more efficient and cost-effective agriculture.”

Anglia Farmers, the largest agricultural purchasing group in the UK, has offered student placements for several years and this year introduced scholarships that provide awards of £3,500 plus a placement job. The first Anglia Farmers scholars are Emily Miller, from Essex, and Sarah Burton, from the Scottish Borders.

The first Tulip Foods scholar is Claudia Lumbers, year BSc (Hons) Agri-food Marketing with Business Studies student, from Cambridgeshire, who said: “I am incredibly thankful to have received the amazing opportunity to become a member of the new product development team at Tulip during my placement year and to be receiving a scholarship funded by Tulip – the first one ever!”

And an award that has returned this year is the Kildare Charitable Trust scholarship, given to five students. Trustee Dawn Oliver explained that the scholarships were funded by a benefactor who enjoys hearing about how the scholarships are making a difference. “So it is lovely to come here and meet the students today”. she added.”