SIXTY-THREE students have been awarded scholarships, bursaries and grants by Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) for the 2014/2015 academic year.

This amount represents a 100 per cent increase in scholarships disbursed by the building society over last year.

The students were awarded at the annual VMBS Scholarship Awards Presentation Ceremony on August 15 at the Knutsford Court Hotel.

Christena McCarty was awarded the VMBS 2014 Master Plan Scholarship — the highest-ranked scholarship category of the building society, with the beneficiary being a ‘Master Plan’ saver pursuing final-year studies at a local university.

Tenneice Brown, Kirk Jones and Raheem McKain were awarded VMBS 2014 Future Plan Scholarships; Shauna Walker was awarded the VMBS 2014 Teacher’s Bursary; Stefan Samuels and Kemar Parker were awarded VMBS 2014 Special Bursaries; Layfayne Johnson from the county of Cornwall, Joshua Givans from the county of Middlesex and Nikolas Buckle from the county of Surrey were awarded VMBS 2014 Junior Plan County Scholarships; and 53 GSAT scholars from all 14 parishes were awarded VMBS 2014 Save2Grow bursaries.

Laraine Harrison, vice president of group human resource administration, said the students have not only scored above average in their examinations, but have demonstrated excellence in their schools and communities.

“Victoria Mutual is proud to support you in this way, as we seek to provide you with empowerment through education,” she told the students.

“As a mutual organisation, one established out of necessity and in the spirit of partnership, we are keenly aware that one of our roles in the wider society is to facilitate, promote and support education, as it is critical to the development of the communities that we serve, and by extension national development.”

Since 1987, VMBS has granted some 1,600 scholarships and bursaries to students at all levels of the education system.