FOUR BLAIR MAYNE BURSARY WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Four awards have been made in the latest round of Blair Mayne Bursaries, with two talented sportsmen, a medical student and a tall ship-adventurer all receiving £500 to fulfil their ambitions.

A special fourth bursary was added to the standard three this year, to mark a bequest to the bursary fund by Teddy Mayne, wife of Douglas Mayne, a member of the Blair Mayne Bursary Committee until his death and brother to the Lt Col Blair Mayne in whose memory the fund was first established.

Winner of the Bursary in Memory of Teddy Mayne, was seventeen year old Jonathan Breen from Kircubbin. A member of several golf clubs, already a competitive player and recently selected to attend an elite Ulster coaching programme, Jonathan aspires to join the professional game and to represent his country at international level. He will use his bursary to fund costs associated with competitions across Ireland in 2010.

Another sportsman, Christopher Toner, 18 and from Portaferry, was awarded the Bursary for Sport to allow him to continue developing his skills as a Clay Bird Shooter. At the age of 12, he became the youngest person ever to represent Ireland at clay bird shooting and has gone on to win a string of Irish, English, Welsh, Ulster and British championships. He took gold at the European championships in 2008 and silver at the World Championships in the same year. Christopher's goal is to represent Great Britain in the Olympic Trap discipline.

Sport also featured in the award for Academic Study, which will contribute to medical student Alistair Mayne's training with the doctor of the West Indies cricket team and one of the world's leading sports medicine specialists, Dr Akshai Mansingh. Twenty year old Alistair from Newtownards, who is currently studying medicine at the University of Liverpool, will work alongside Dr Mansingh for 5 weeks, learning about the latest treatments in sports injuries and his placement coincides with the West Indies test series against South Africa.

Winner in the Adventure Training category, Jennifer Whittaker, will be using her bursary to take up a once-in-a-lifetime challenge of sailing a tall ship this summer between Aberdeen and Newcastle. Fifteen-year old Jennifer from Comber will be joining up to 80 other young people, some with disabilities, some without, for the voyage which aims to improve integration and awareness between disabled and able-bodied young people.

"All four of these young people show exceptional talent and are a credit to their disciplines and to the Ards Borough. I'm delighted that once again the Blair Mayne Bursary Fund is supporting and encouraging that talent and that as a tribute to the late Teddy Mayne, we have been able to add a special bursary to this year's awards," said Alderman Ronnie Ferguson, Chairman of the Blair Mayne Bursary Committee. "Teddy was a long-time supporter of the Bursary, particularly through her fund-raising events which she undertook as Lady Captain of Kirkistown Golf Club. It's very fitting that the recipient of the award in her memory is an aspiring golfer, also a member of that Club and playing a sport with which Blair Mayne himself was closely associated".

Each bursary recipient receives £500 from the fund which was established in memory of Lt Col Blair Mayne, and offers bursaries to young people from the Ards Borough who aspire to excellence in the categories of Academic Study, Adventure Training and Sport. Anyone who would like further information about the Bursary should contact Ursula Mezza at Ards Borough Council, Tel: 028 9182 4021.