15 YOUNGSTERS from across rural Dorset have benefitted from grants to help them pursue their ambitions to work in agriculture, animal welfare and conservation.

A record number of grants from the Student Support Fund, managed by the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Agricultural Society which runs the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show, were awarded to students entering into agricultural, horticultural, countryside and land-based industries.

The grant helps budding students with the cost of college or university course fees, books and equipment, or even to help meet transport costs of getting to a place of study from a rural location.

The Support Fund is in its fourth year with awards this year totalling around six thousand pounds.

Georgia Angel, 21, from Margaret Marsh, a hamlet in north Dorset, is one of the lucky students to be awarded a grant to support her further education.

Georgia has a degree in Biological Science and will now go onto study at the acclaimed Bristol Veterinary School.

12-year-old Oliver Swanton, from Shaftesbury, who is keen to work in agriculture, will use his grant to help with a bus journey to the Dorset Studio School, a mainstream school in Dorchester for students who wish to pursue careers in the land and environment sectors.

Students receive their awards at the Battens Stand at this year’s Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show along with a donation for the Student Support Fund Picture: Gillingham and Shaftesbury Agricultural Society

Gracie-Mae Barkess, 16, from Gillingham suffers from a mobility condition and the grant will help her with the cost of a laptop and the long bus journey to Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester, which specialises in land-based studies.

Sixteen-year-old Nathan Keeble, who is studying for a Level 3 in Wildlife Conservation and Ecology at the same college said: “The bus journey from my home in Motcombe to Kingston Maurward takes an hour and is over £800 for the year so this grant will really help. I want to be a game warden.”

His colleague Toby Portnell, also 16, from Mere, will be using his grant for transport and equipment for his course in Level 3 in Livestock and Agriculture.

He said: “I’m keen to own my own farm. I already work in a dairy farm part time and have a 40-strong herd of my own sheep.”

Matthew Price, chair of the Student Support Fund said: “There is a huge amount of positivity about these youngsters and many display a great work ethic.

“Some, like Nathan, have been volunteering at the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show as a thank you for their fund and to learn more about the work behind the scenes that goes into these rural events.

“Just the cost of getting to college for some youngsters who live in rural Dorset can be £1,500 a year and that’s before they have bought necessary equipment.

“The Student Support Fund can make all the difference for a rural youngster in continuing their education and helping to create our county’s farmers and countryside custodians of the future.

“We are so grateful to company sponsorship, private donations and local community groups such as The Young Farmers who fundraise for the Student Support Fund.”

Some of the students were presented with their funding awards at the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show by Battens Solicitors along with a cheque for the Student Support Fund through donations to the Battens Charitable Trust.

This Trust has been running for 39 years with private donations, legacies and fundraising by many of the Battens employees across their seven offices in Somerset and Dorset.

Naomi Dyer, director of Battens said: “Our Charitable Trust is focusing on young people and having a presence at the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show is a great way to support these young people and the local farming community.”

Applications for the 2025 Student Support Fund open in March 2025.

To find out more email studentsupport@gillinghamandshaftesburyshow.co.uk

If you are interested in supporting the Fund through fundraising or sponsorship, contact Sue Harris on 07970 865790.