Cheers All Round for Diageo Student Scholarship!
Two lucky Fife College students have been given a great boost to their future careers thanks to engineering scholarships awarded by world leading premium drinks business, Diageo.
Kyle O’Donnell and Anthony Ainslie attended a special presentation at the company’s Banbeath Bottling Plant in Leven accompanied by staff from Fife College. The group were warmly welcomed to the plant and given a tour by Diageo staff including Bill Dunn, Senior Engineering Manager and Mark Combe, Electrical Team Leader.
After the tour, Kyle and Anthony, who are both studying HND Mechanical Engineering, were presented with their £1,000 scholarships by Bill Dunn, Senior Engineering Manager at Diageo.
The awards were made through the Adam Smith Foundation which looks after the College’s scholarship programme.
Kyle, 21 from Leven, who is in the second year of his course, was delighted to receive a scholarship and said: “It was a shock and surprise to hear I was a scholarship winner – the money is great as it will help me complete my studies and fund an engineering experiment for my college end of course graded unit. It will also help me buy a laptop and I’ll put some towards university after the summer. I’ve always been interested in maths and engineering and now look forward to a promising career ahead thanks to this boost from Diageo.”
Anthony, 42 from Kirkcaldy was also very pleased to be recognised through the scholarship. Said Anthony: “Having my efforts recognised in this way means the world to me. I came to Fife College to help progress in my career and get qualifications which mirror my skills. I have five children aged between 4 and 19 and so it has been hard leaving full-time work for part-time and taking on full-time study. I am in my first year of the course and enjoy it very much. I hope to continue on to Napier University after College and the scholarship award will come in very useful to buy a new laptop and books for my course.”
Said Bill: “We are delighted to support Fife College engineering students through the Adam Smith Foundation again this year. As a business, we are committed to the development of talented individuals and both Kyle and Anthony have shown great dedication and commitment to their studies.
“It was a pleasure to meet the students and I hope that the Diageo scholarships awarded will help them both reach their full potential in the engineering industry.”
Stephen Ayton, Curriculum Manager for Mechanical and Automative at the College’s Stenton Campus in Glenrothes, also attended the tour and presentation along with Mechanical Engineering lecturer Harry Ferguson. Both were delighted to see their students receive recognition for their commitment to their studies.
Said Stephen: “I would like to thank Diageo for welcoming us today and supporting our students by awarding these very generous scholarships which will help them enormously in their future studies and careers.
“The financial award itself will come in very useful to both students to support them with their studies but what is even more valuable to the students is the recognition of a global business such as Diageo that they can add to their CVs.
“The tour was a fantastic opportunity for us all, especially the students, to see behind the scenes at the bottling plant, meet the staff and ask questions. I would like to thank Diageo for taking the time to welcome us and for their continued support.”
The Adam Smith Foundation looks after Fife College’s scholarship programme and distributes over 100 awards each year to deserving students through, on average, 25 scholarship partnerships. The scholarships help to develop opportunities and open doors for students and aim to transform lives.
Fife College offers a wide range of scholarships in engineering and places are available now for courses beginning in August 2018. To apply visit www.fife.ac.uk or call 0344 248 0115
