A number of bursaries provided by leading organisations from the agri-food and horticulture sector are available every year to CAFRE students at Greenmount Campus.

The David Colegrave Foundation (DCF) has been supporting the bursary programme at CAFRE for five years now.  Valerie Orr from Ballygown received a bursary and this helped her successfully complete the Foundation Degree in Horticulture.

Valerie was awarded her bursary at the start of her course and recently as part of the Foundation Degree study tour was able to visit the Ball Colegrave nursery in Banbury, Oxfordshire and thank Stuart Lowen one the trustees of the foundation in person . Valerie said “I was delighted to receive the bursary from the David Colegrave Foundation (DCF) and it certainly helped finance my studies at Greenmount. I would encourage all first year students hoping to study at Greenmount to compete for a bursary – it really makes a difference”. This year DCF made four awards to horticulture students Matthew Lilburn, Adam Harris, James Cuffey and David Archibald.

The DCF along with other leading organisations within the agri-food and horticultural sector will again be providing substantial bursaries to students commencing higher education at Greenmount in September 2009.

If you are interested in applying for a bursary, then come to Greenmount Campus on Tuesday 18 August at 12.30pm for the launch of the Bursary Awards for the 2009-2010 academic year. There you will learn how to compete for a £1000 bursary towards the cost of studying at Greenmount.

Greenmount Campus is holding career advice evenings for September 2009 entry at 7pm on Monday 24 August for post ‘A’ level courses and Thursday 27 for post GCSE courses. If you are considering a career in horticulture like David, Adam, Matt, James and Valerie, why not come along and speak to our staff to discuss your own career choices.

Valerie Orr from Ballygowan, winner of the 2007 David Colegrave Foundation bursary with Stuart Lowen a foundation trustee on a recent visit to the Ball Colegrave site in Banbury.

Foundation Degree in Horticulture students David Archibald (Coleraine) Matthew Liburn (Lisburn), Valerie Orr (Ballygowan), Adam Harris (Ballymena) and James Cuffey (Crossgar) who received bursaries from the David Colegrave Foundation at Greenmount in 2007 and 2008