Helping Limestone Coast students realise their career dreams

Nominations now open for 2023 Community Bank Mt Gambier & District Scholarship

Mt Gambier & district students will again benefit from a scholarship program which looks to supplement their study costs in their first year of higher education.

Community Bank Mt Gambier & District chair Helen Strickland said the Community Bank Mt Gambier & District Scholarship Program was launched because the branch believed local students deserved every opportunity to achieve their dreams.

“An investment in education yields great long-term dividends and by helping young people gain access to tertiary education, the returns to the student, their families and the local community are significant,” Mrs Strickland said.

“The Community Bank Mt Gambier & District Scholarship Program is a transformative undertaking that changes the lives of local students, strengthens communities for the long term and is a tangible example of the good that banking with us can achieve.

“Our young people are our future and we believe they deserve the best support possible to help forge their careers and achieve their dreams.”

Successful Community Bank Mt Gambier & District Scholarship applicants will receive funding for one year and depending on academic performance, the scholarship may be renewed to assist in the second year of their study.

Applications are invited from eligible students, starting their studies in 2023. Applications close on 31 January 2023 and will be assessed in early February 2023.

Last year, the Community Bank Mt Gambier & District Scholarship supported local student Sophie Ellis with her Bachelor of Speech Pathology studies at University of South Australia.

Sophie (pictured with Community Bank Mt Gambier & District branch manager Emma Horrigan) said the scholarship was invaluable for the costs of study and her residential college accommodation costs.

Sophie spent her first year of tertiary study living at St Mark’s College and studying a Bachelor of Speech Pathology at the University of South Australia City East campus, settling on speech pathology after a careers day at school and part time work during her gap year at Limestone Speech which gave the 2020 Tenison Woods College graduate some clarity.

“Part of my job at Limestone Speech was putting together resources for clients and I started to realise how interesting speech pathology would be,” Sophie said when she was awarded the 2022 scholarship. “For a long time I didn’t really know what I wanted to do but after the careers day at school I started looking into speech pathology and I had already applied for the job at Limestone Speech so it all sort of fell into place.”

Her ATAR of 97.1 ensured she won a place in her preferred course and the good news kept coming when Sophie secured last year’s Community Bank Mt Gambier & District Scholarship.

“Obviously moving away from home is a big thing and moving to the city where there are more expenses can put financial pressure on so anything that helps that is amazing,” Sophie said.

The Community Bank Mt Gambier & District Scholarship is part of the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Scholarship Program, which partners with Community Bank branches, Rural Bank and The University of Melbourne.

The program has now supported more than 1336 students, with more than $11 million in funding since its inception in 2007.

For further information please contact Community Bank Mt Gambier & District on 8726 3200 or visit www.bendigobank.com.au scholarships.