The Rochester Bridge Trust announced its sponsorship of two new Arkwright Scholars at the 2014 Arkwright Awards Ceremony in London on 31 October. This year’s recipients, sixth form students Adam Lord from Trinity School in Croydon and Åsa Löfstedt from Putney High School GDST, will be known as Bridge Wardens’ Scholars.
Arkwright Scholars are selected for their potential as future engineering leaders by assessing their academic, practical and leadership skills in the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The scholarships support STEM students through their sixth form studies and encourage them into top universities or higher apprenticeships.
Georgina Hare, Charity Relations Manager at the Arkwright Scholarships Trust, said, “An Arkwright Scholarship often makes all the difference to a young person’s confidence and opens up their career horizons with regards to the opportunities they can access through our engineering sponsors and mentors.”
Bridge Clerk Sue Threader said, “We try to make sure that our scholars are offered opportunities to experience real projects during their two years with us.” Past visits, not usually available to the public, have included an overnight inspection of Dartford Tunnel during a maintenance closure and a tour to the top of the cable towers of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at Dartford. Among the opportunities for this year’s Bridge Wardens’ Scholars will be a guided tour of Rochester Bridge by bridge engineer Tim Belcher-Whyte from Hyder Consulting Ltd. and an engineer’s tour of the construction site for the new London Bridge Station.
Sue Threader, herself a chartered civil and structural engineer, continues to mentor the Bridge Wardens’ Scholars, past and present, through their studies and to assist with university and job applications, references, and industry contacts.
Notes:
1. The Rochester Bridge Trust is a charitable trust that exists to maintain the old and new bridges at Rochester and serve the travelling public. It is the only surviving bridge trust still serving its original purpose, and it has served the people of Kent since 1399. The Trust also supports numerous community and education projects across historic Kent and Medway.
2. The Trust’s assets all derive from endowments of land and money in the 14th and 15th centuries and are carefully managed in order to provide an income to fund bridge maintenance and local charitable grants. The Trust receives no external funding and is regulated by the Charity Commission.
For more information:
The Rochester Bridge Trust
5 Esplanade
Rochester
Kent ME1 1QE
Tel: 01634 846706
Fax: 01634 840125