Rotary Club launch bursary

The scheme is open to young people, aged between 18 and 30 years, who might be taking a year out or hoping to volunteer on some worthwhile project at home or abroad during 2015.

The bursary is used to assist these people to help disadvantaged people and communities at home or overseas.

The Rotary Club of Lisburn launched an annual bursary in 2004 to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the club.

The top award is worth £500 and a further £500 may be offered in the form of discretionary awards between “runners up” who put forward interesting and worthwhile projects.

The 2015 Bursary opened on February 1 and all applications must be received by the club secretary not later than March 31 2015.

Application forms can be downloaded from the Rotary Club of Lisburn website www.lisburnrotary.co.uk and click on the “Annual Bursary” button, read the introduction then click on “Rules and Regulations”. In the first paragraph click on “Form” and this will take you to the application form.

Last year Olivia Brown from Newtownards received the top Bursary award of £500 which she used to help with her expenses on a 12 month placement with Project Trust.

Olivia had accepted a teaching post at a secondary school which was situated deep in the heart of Honduras, Central America.

In her recent email from Honduras she commented: “I cannot explain to you how much I love it here. Honduras is an incredibly beautiful country, especially the little town I live in, Trinidad. Trinidad is a very small town surrounded by incredible views of green mountains all around.

“The kids have been loving their English classes, and although we don’t get to do many complicated topics, we feel that having someone from a completely different culture and background will really help to open their minds.

“As you can imagine, we are the only foreigners here in this tiny town, so it’s quite strange to some of the children to see us.”

The winner of the 2015 Bursary will be announced before May 31 2015.