2010 was an outstanding year for the Gane Trust’s travel scholarships, now firmly established as a collaboration with Bath Spa University and the University of the West of England.

Students submit a proposal to their School from which one is selected to receive £1000, £200 being held back until they have completed the project.   They competed this year against a large number of bold and imaginative applications, and chose wonderful destinations, from New York to rural India.

After returning each travel scholar put together a report and made a presentation to their peers, teaching staff and Gane Trustees,  impressive for their professionalism  and the quality of reflection on their experiences.  The trustees went from Bath Spa’s School of Art and Design to the UWE Creative Arts campus at Bower Ashton,  then to the Social Sciences faculty at the Glenside campus at Bristol, which launched the June Lancaster Travel Award, named after our much missed late trustee who specialised in this area.

The process encourages second year students to take further an interest they have developed which will act as a springboard for their final year.  One of the pleasures of 2010 was dropping in on a former award winner, Michelle Cook, at her Bath Spa degree show and seeing the final outcome of the work which we had had a helping hand in supporting.  We look forward with great anticipation to more tales of travel  through the year.

2010 Travel Award Winners:

Bath Spa University (Creative Arts):  Alison Shanks

University of the West of England (Art and Design):  Natalie McGrorty

University if the West of England (Social Sciences):  Claire Barber