Congratulations to the recipients of the Churchill Education Scholarship! In the spirit of giving back to our community, we are offering scholarships up to the value of $2000 to fund qualifications gained through Recognition of Prior Learning.
We really enjoyed reading through everyone’s applications. Wow, there are some talented and deserving people in the world… Which made the process of choosing two winners in each category tough!
Now, without further ado, the recipients…
Mental Health Career Support
In an indirect way PTSD was the catalyst that brought Churchill Education into being. When co-founder Randall wound up with PTSD and retirement from his policing career it took the support of family, friends and business contacts to help him piece life and an identity back together.
For this reason we are passionate supporters of others going through their dark night of the soul.
The Mental Health scholarship is intended to support those who, due to the twists and turns of life, could use a leg up to either get back on the horse, or move up to the next step in their career.
Congratulations to Lisa Ashcroft and Clive Elliot!
Lisa Ashcroft
Lisa is balancing life as an artist, a career in business and as a single mum. When Lisa lost her father unexpectedly recently, it reminded her that life is far too short and that we must all make the most of it and ourselves. Lisa is getting out of her comfort zone to reach for her full potential, and be an example to her young daughter.
Clive Elliot
Clive has spent the last 40 years in community service. Currently he manages an employee assistance program focused on suicide prevention and supporting people in pursuit of their own mental wellbeing. Clive has experienced his own personal and professional challenges, and would like to take what he has learned and healed forward to help others.
Police & First Responders Scholarship
For us, this is personal. As mentioned above, co-founder Randall Smith was medically retired from what he thought would be a lifelong policing career, then had to work out who he was without the gun and the badge, and the value of his experience in other industries.
Since 2006 we have helped hundreds of other police and first responders to turn their policing experience into national qualifications that are a powerful springboard for their next career step, whether that is transition or climbing up the ranks.
One of our scholarship winners is preparing for a new career chapter after compulsory age retirement, whilst the other is wanting to move into an area of policing where she feels she can have a greater positive impact on the community.
Congratulations Brenda Lee and Jaimie Smith!
Brenda Lee
Brenda has reached compulsory retirement age from police. During her time with police Brenda worked tirelessly on and off duty supporting Māori women and children by responding to community trauma with a passion and deep understanding of the complex cultural layers. Brenda would like to continue her community work in a role that will allow her to encourage mature age people to continue learning, particularly working mothers who have devoted much of their life to raising families and now have some time to devote to their own personal life and career goals.
Jaimie Smith
Since joining police cadets over 11 years ago, Jaimie has held a number of roles including investigating workplace death incidents as a Coronial Investigator. This experience in particular has inspired Jaimie to pursue a Work Health and Safety role within police that will allow her to help prevent incidents from occurring, and keep families safe.
Upcoming Scholarships…
If you applied but did not win this time round, or have not yet applied, we encourage you to keep an eye on the scholarships page. Every few months we re-open the application window for new scholarship recipients.
Soon we will open applications for two new scholarship categories: Women in Business, and Defence Members & Veterans.
Women in Business Scholarship
We’ve noticed something puzzling. Despite women making up 47% of the Australian workforce. Only about 25% of our RPL graduates are women. We’d like to see more women getting the recognition they deserve through qualifications that show what they know.
Notify me when applications open
Defence Members and Veterans Scholarship
Since the beginning we’ve been ardent supporters of our brave defence members and veterans. Qualifications gained through RPL are a vital key in transitioning from defence to a civilian career. We know this can be a daunting process, so it brings us so much happiness to help in this journey.
Notify me when applications open
And if you’re ready to find out what qualifications you might be eligible for, get in touch…
