Auckland City is a Centre of Scholarship

Auckland City is a Centre of Scholarship

More than 700 Aucklanders made an application for a $5000 scholarship according to the 2013 nationwide tally of the ‘Do Your Thing’ Scholarships by AMP.

One of the most prominent of the Auckland scholarships was the Advice First Innovator’s Award which received a total of 168 applications, a significant increase from last year’s 120.

Director Geoff Barrell said AdviceFirst was delighted to support a project that was demonstrating the extent of kiwi ingenuity.

“We’re overwhelmed by the quality of the projects Aucklanders have submitted to us and it is going to be a tough decision to choose just one to support with a $5,000 scholarship,” Mr Barrell said.

“We’ve had applications from professional sports people, prosthetics engineers, professional dancers, conservationists, laser eye surgeons and everything in between” he said.

Geoff says that while the word scholarship seems to imply funds to further one’s study, many of the applications were much more than that.

“One interesting thing to see was that a number of the applications included a business proposal within their respective field which to me shows how enterprising kiwis can be.

“Sometimes that’s sports coaches wanting to start an academy in their local community, other applications included people wanting to start up their own healthy nutrition cafes”.

AdviceFirst Principal Ken Holmes said that one thing he noticed from the scholarship applications was that necessity is the mother of invention.

“It stands out to me that what most of the applicants have in common is that they have big dreams, often with a community focus with the aim of improving the lives of people around them.

“A lot of the applications were very practical such as one submission to form a community catering company for the purpose of fundraising for low income families within that community,” he said.

“We don’t want to give too much away yet but we’re also very excited about some of the inventions that Aucklanders have come up with that they are currently working on bringing to market.

“I was impressed by one kiwi mum who has by herself developed a stable baby carry case that she has found will keep her baby asleep and now she just needs the funds to get the project off the ground.

“A significant number of applications also came from postgraduate researchers in academic institutions working on inventions such as prosthetics that can help the lame to walk and the blind to see.

“This is the second year of the AdviceFirst Scholarship Award and it has shown again that Auckland is a city of great ingenuity.”

The winner of the AdviceFirst Innovator’s Award and the $5000 scholarship will be announced at an official awards ceremony on the 16th of October.

ENDS

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