Bradford College

HKF Award Winners Shine

 Three Bradford College students have won prestigious awards courtesy of the Helena Kennedy Foundation (HKF). The Helena Kennedy Foundation awards annual bursaries to students who have overcome significant personal and financial hardship to complete a further education course and progress into higher education.

This year the foundation awarded £1500 bursaries to deserving students and provided the opportunity to apply for a free laptop to assist with higher education studies.

Corinne Bosley, Sherrie Highley and Amanda Simpson fought off stiff competition from over 250 students to win Helena Kennedy Awards. Corinne won a £1500 bursary, Sherrie won a £1500 bursary and a laptop and Amanda won a laptop. The students were delighted to discover that they will be presented with their awards at a ceremony at the House of Lords in September. The Helena Kennedy Foundation sent a confirmation letter to the College, commending the extremely high standard of applications and congratulating Corrine, Sherrie, Amanda and the College.

The students won the awards in recognition of their commitment to their studies, despite facing difficulties and having personal issues to overcome. 

Corinne completed courses in Access to Higher Education (Science), A2 Physics and A2 Maths. Living independently with her partner Craig; Corinne has had to manage living with epilepsy, while supporting Craig who was diagnosed with Leukaemia. Working hard to overcome personal difficulties Corinne currently has a conditional offer to study Astrophysics at Liverpool University. Maureen Gamble, Lecturer in Mathematics supported Corinne’s application.
 
Sherrie studied Sociology, Psychology and English Language and hopes to go on to Bradford University to study Sociology. Sherrie completed her coursework while supporting her partner and father, while they battled with depression. Sherrie also became responsible for her younger brother following the breakdown of her parents’ marriage. Sherrie did not let her personal circumstances interfere with her determination to succeed and she continued to put the needs of others first. Sherrie’s application was supported by Veronique Leygue, Course Team Leader – Sixth Form Centre.

Amanda enrolled on the Access to Higher Education course in a bid to turn her life around. Recovering from life saving surgery following two brain haemorrhages, Amanda was crippled with grief when she lost her terminally ill partner to motor neurone disease. Having previously cared for her partner Amanda thought she had left it too late to return to studying. In a life changing decision to make a new start she enrolled as a full time student and threw herself into her studies. Receiving the news that she needed more surgery, Amanda made the decision to postpone her surgery until after her exams and plans to spend the summer recovering before starting university in September. Interested in Forensic Psychology, Amanda plans to study for a BSc in Psychology. Amanda’s application was supported by her course tutor, Tahira Amin.

Talking about winning an award Corinne said: “I was overwhelmed to receive the Award, it means so much to me. It will help me out tremendously when I go through to study next year. I will use the money to go towards my student accommodation and the usual university equipment and living.”

Earlier this year the College promoted the Helena Kennedy Foundation Awards and invited students to submit an application form with the chance of winning a £100 College prize and the chance to be selected to be put forward for one of the HKF awards. Having received numerous applications the College selected the 10 best applicants and rewarded them with £100 each before putting 5 applications forward for a Helena Kennedy Foundation Award.

Nick Byrne, Assistant Director Learner Services commented on the award and said: “The College was very pleased to receive many excellent applications for the Helena Kennedy Awards. It was a difficult task finding the most deserving cases to submit on our behalf. I think it is a real reward for all involved that three of our students have received such recognition for their efforts. I hope that the bursaries and laptops will prove invaluable for Corinne, Sherrie and Amanda in their future studies.”

Michele Sutton, OBE, College Principal and Chief Executive said: “We are delighted to learn that three of our students have won four awards between them! This is the first time that we have entered more than one student and it has always been very difficult in the past to select one from our shortlist of deserving students.  The award of bursaries and laptops will be of great assistance to the successful students as they progress into higher education.  We wish them good luck in the next stage of their careers.”