18/06/2026
🤝 “Supporting young people through education is personally important to me, I want to be a part of something that would’ve helped me when I was that age. I am passionate about the fact that all young people deserve an education that benefits them as much as it can, no matter their background or journey.”
🎓 Emmie received support from our University Bursary programme in 2024, to support them with their BA Illustration degree at Cardiff University. They are now studying an MA in Illustration and Animation, something they never thought was possible at the start of their education journey.
Having experienced first-hand the impact that support can have, Emmie recently joined our education grants panel, helping to bring valuable lived experience and perspective to discussions around opportunity, access and support for young people across Wiltshire and Swindon.
🗣️ Speaking about why they wanted to volunteer, Emmie said: “I wanted to join the education grants panel to understand more about and be part of the process that helped me get through my undergraduate degree. Without the bursary, I wouldn’t be able to be in the position I’m in now and so I understand how much weight the discussions and decisions hold. I feel I hold a lot of perspective because of this that benefits these discussions and gives back to what helped me.
“I believe that it’s important to have people with lived experience in on conversations surrounding education and opportunity, especially on the grants panel as we understand what it’s like to have to ask for help, what facing barriers feels like and how difficult it is to work our way through them. You cannot have these conversations without people in the room that have been through it, we bridge the gap between support and those who need it to keep everyone connected.
“I grew up in Salisbury on the Heath, I didn’t know anyone who’d gone to university before. I was the first person in my family to go. It was incredibly daunting and something I’d never even considering until I was in college, where my lecturers supported and encouraged me to continue my education further. When I started my BA in Illustration, I was so sure it wasn’t for people like me but as time went on and the more support I got, I started to realise it absolutely was. I’m now studying an MA in Illustration and Animation, something I never would have thought possible.”
Emmie’s experiences and insight bring an important perspective to our panel discussions, helping to ensure that these young people are represented and that conversations around decision-making remain thoughtful and informed through lived experience.
Thank you Emmie, and to all those on our grants panels, for generously giving your time to support local young people.
To read more about Emmie, Judetta, and our new education grants panel members, please click below 👇
🔗 bit.ly/43Ki9bo
