CLA supports student Katie, 18

Posted 20 October 2011

First year student, Katie Poulter, 18 has been revealed as the winner of the latest CLA Charitable Trust scholarship at Harper Adams University College. 

Katie, from Bedale, North Yorkshire, has just started the BSc (Hons) Rural Enterprise and Land Management (REALM) course.  She said: “A few of my friends had done the REALM course and loved it. On the back of their recommendations, I came to the Harper Adams residential taster event HEC, and that sold it to me. The lectures were really interesting.

“Also, I have done work experience since then that confirmed that this is the path I want to follow. I worked at George F White, a firm of chartered surveyors, over the summer and they allowed me to really get involved in some projects and I loved it.”

The CLA is an organisation which protects the interests of those responsible for land, property and business throughout England and Wales. The Charitable Trust was founded in 1980 and has awarded more than 1.5 million in grants to promote rural sector education. A large portion of funds raised by the organisation are invested in countryside and agricultural courses for the disabled.

The prestigious CLA scholarship is offered every two years and is open to all BSc or FdSc/HND REALM students. Each candidate selected is required to attend an interview, where his or her performance is assessed alongside their academic ability and achievements. Katie said that the interview process was daunting but everyone she met was very friendly and reassuring. 

“The CLA Scholarship means everything to me. I was so pleased to even get to the interview stage – I was proud to get that far. And the fact that they chose me confirmed that I have chosen the right career path. To have won this award, from an organisation as prestigious as the CLA, is a great honour.”

Katie has future ambitions to become a rural chartered surveyor. Her scholarship will help her to achieve this goal because the CLA is a top organisation within her chosen field. Outside of her studies, Katie enjoys horse-riding and has joined the polo club at Harper Adams.  She is also a member of Catterick Young Farmers. 

CLA Yorkshire Regional Director, Dorothy Fairburn, said: "One of the greatest threats to the future of farming is its ageing profile, which is why the CLA is committed to encouraging and supporting new entrants to the industry. The fact the award has gone to a young person from Yorkshire is an added bonus!"