The John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation (JTYAF) was delighted to have the opportunity to meet the JTYAF award winners at Ferndown Upper School, for the first time since the Covid pandemic.

Bursaries and scholarships were presented to the students during an Awards Assembly, which was the perfect opportunity to celebrate their considerable achievements. The applications were of an outstanding quality and of those successful, 15 students were awarded bursaries and 4 received scholarships. This first round of applications saw more than £10,000 awarded and a similar process will take place later in the year.

Two talented GB athletes received scholarships. A 13-year-old who has qualified for the World Martial Arts Games in Florida for Karate and a gymnast, who is also 13 years old, and will be representing her country in Tumbling at the Loule Cup in Portugal. Their awards will help with their travel expenses and competition fees.

In addition, scholarships were awarded to a gifted singer song writer to help with the cost of music equipment and to a 15-year-old wheelchair racer to cover the cost of racing rollers. These will support his training, helping him to develop and improve his racing.

Bursaries were presented to 15 students for a range of activities from Taekwondo to music lessons and sewing machines.

The JTYAF was established in 2008 to honour the memory of John Thornton, a young Royal Marines Officer from Ferndown who was tragically killed, at the age of 22, whilst serving in Afghanistan. In the last 15 years John’s Foundation has made a really important difference to young people in our community, providing opportunities to over 2500 young people.