Nearly £200,000 in scholarships given so more than 20 students in this region can study at UEA

UEA Difference Campaign scholarships 2017. Photo: UEA (Image: UEA)

Josh Cork, from Caister, near Great Yarmouth, was one of 68 students given one of the University of East Anglia's (UEA) donor scholarships, awarded to gifted and talented young people who might not otherwise be able to afford to continue their studies.

Some 26 of those were from Norfolk and Suffolk, who between them will receive more than half of the £276,000 total given out.

Josh received the John Jarrold Trust award for Environmental Sciences. He said: 'I see my scholarship as an opportunity to help expand my studies even further and a way to access extra content outside my lectures.'

The scholarships are made through The Difference Campaign, which was established five years ago and has so far supported more than 500 individuals.

UEA Difference Campaign scholarships 2017. Photo: UEA (Image: UEA)

Rebecca Carver, from Norwich, was another recipient from the region who received the Panasonic Scholarship in the Faculty of Science. She said: 'The scholarship and [the university's] backing has given me the chance to focus fully on, and strive to achieve in, my studies without additional worries.'

Marcus Dyer, from Lowestoft, was given the Medical Aspirations Scholarship. He said: 'I've not always found my studies the easiest and I don't really think I could maintain a job whilst still successfully progressing with the course.

'My parents are limited with what financial help they can offer me so without this amazing opportunity I honestly don't think I would be able to realistically pursue my dream of becoming a doctor.'

UEA's Vice-Chancellor Prof David Richardson said: 'Thanks to the generosity of our donors, many of whom are former UEA students or local businesses, we've been able to give opportunities to many deserving undergraduate, postgraduate and research students in a wide variety of disciplines.

'The awards make a profound impact on these students - our future doctors, authors, meteorologists, historians and philosophers.

'We believe passionately in enabling young people from all backgrounds to follow their dreams and nurture their talents and I'd like to thank our generous donors for the great gift that they've given to this year's scholars.'

New scholarships in 2017 include the Context Consulting UK Studentship, established for a PhD student in the Norwich Business School by alumnus Phil Cooper, with the first award going to Ross Cameron; the Amar-Franses and Foster-Jenkins Scholarship for an MSc Climate Change student, awarded to Christopher Friedler; the Chauntry Scholarship in Computing Science, awarded by alumnus Ray Vaughan and Chauntry Ltd to undergraduate student Francesco Vincitore, and author Annabel Abbs' Creative Writing scholarship, awarded to Fiona Sinclair.

Rachael Grant received a The Difference post-graduate scholarship in International Development after being inspired to change her career from nursing to women and children's health education following a working visit to Malawi.

'The fact that both children and adults were still dying of HIV/AIDs, TB, dysentery and malaria was shocking,' she said.

'But what was more shocking was the completely treatable and preventable nature of the majority of these diseases. On my return home to East Anglia I realised that I wanted my career to take a different route and focus on the health and wellbeing of people in low income countries. This support has allowed me to pursue my dream.'

Victoria Phillips a former UEA student who, with her sons, founded the Paul Head Memorial Scholarship for Social Sciences in memory of her husband – awarded to Gemma Galletly, gave the keynote speech at the awards ceremony last week.

She said: 'We hope that through funding a scholarship we can help qualified students who might otherwise be deterred from benefitting from the opportunities offered at UEA.

'UEA's donor scholarships ensure that this and future generations of students can achieve their potential and, quite simply, 'be brilliant.'

Full list of the region's recipients

Norfolk:

Becky Herdman – The Ede and Ravenscroft Prize

Sara Ward – The Simon Wharmby Postgraduate Scholarship in Environmental Sciences

Martin Harvey – The Edward and Ivy Rose Hood Memorial Scholarship

Hannah King – The Ian and Emma Smith Scholarship

Dr Penny Lamb – The Ian Hunter Prize

Leon Jenner – The Alan Katritzky Scholarship

Joshua Cork – The John Jarrold Trust Scholarship

Charles Segens – The John Jarrold Trust Scholarship

Jasmine Allen – The Mills and Reeve Scholarship

Lena Ibrahim – The Medical Aspirations Scholarship

Rebecca Carver – The Panasonic Scholarship in the Faculty of Science

Caitlin Woods – The Difference Postgraduate Scholarship

Jasmin Plant – The Difference Undergraduate Scholarship

James Ryan – The Difference Undergraduate Scholarship

Suffolk:

Christine Pilbrow – The Ede and Ravenscroft Prize

Gavin Senior – The Simon Wharmby Postgraduate Scholarship in Environmental Sciences

James Dobson – The Dominic Christian Scholarship

Lewis Green – The Raymond and Claire Frostick Postgraduate Scholarship

Marcus Dyer – The Medical Aspirations Scholarship

Harriet Avery – The Difference Postgraduate Scholarship

Rachael Grant – The Difference Postgraduate Scholarship