Funding boost for ten female engineering students in Rugby

Engineering students at Rugby College are being given a boost after receiving grants from one of the oldest women’s charities in the UK.

Futures for Women has awarded grants to ten female students on the college’s engineering courses to support them in their studies.

The grant funding up to £10,000 is set to support students with travel expenses, access to equipment and other resources.It

has been awarded to students from both the Engineering Level 3 Extended Diploma and BEng (Hons) General Engineering. The degree course saw its first graduates this year.

Futures for Women was established in 1859 by suffragist Jessie Boucherett to encourage women towards economic independence through employment.

The grant fund for students at Rugby College, which is part of WCG (Warwickshire College Group), was created from a small fund provided by Amazon and combined with other funds. The charity match-funded the £5,000 fund to increase the pot to £10,000.

Futures for Women work with colleges across the country to provide support for young women, helping them to thrive in their education.

Courtney Farndon, 21, from Rugby, is studying BEng (Hons) General Engineering and is one of the students to received a grant. She has studied from Level 3 through to Level 6 at Rugby College.

She said: “I would like to thank Futures for Women for this opportunity and the grant funding is a lifechanging opportunity for me.

“I’m looking at computer aided design roles for when I graduate, or opportunities in the automotive industry, and a big part of that will be getting work experience in those areas.

“The grant money will be going towards funding a new car. My current car is really unreliable and actually broke down once on my way to a work placement. The new car will really help my job prospects.”

Rebecca Mills, Administrator at Futures for Women, said: “Our ethos is to support women’s choices and providing loans or grants is one way that we are able to do that.

“We’re pleased to be working with Rugby College to support these ten students. We interviewed all applicants and were hugely impressed with all ten, and we were delighted to be able to award every applicant with a grant.

“We look forward to following their studies and wish them all the best as they pursue careers in engineering.”

Warwickshire College and University Centre (WCUC) is the higher education arm of WCG.

Gary Elson, Subject Leader for HE Engineering at WCUC, said: “This is fantastic for our students and we would like to thank Futures for Women for their support.

“The students will be using the grants for a wide range of purposes, with some purchasing newlaptops, some putting it towards travel expenses and others seeking to buy their own textbooks and other equipment.

“For ten students to be able to benefit is excellent, and the grant funding will be a huge support for them during their studies.”

To find out more about engineering courses at WCG visit www.wcg.ac.uk/study