Kick started with $2500 scholarships

Upper Hutt’s Cossie Club was inundated with applications for its Kick Start Scholarships.

That may because the club had $50,000 to give out to rising talent in academia and sports - up tenfold on previous years.

Of the 67 applicants, 20 young locals received $2500 each at an awards night on November 14.

Cossie Club manager Dean Candy said the club was committed to supporting the local community with the focus on youth.

‘‘We have been for a long time and for a number of years we have made $5000 available for five scholarships, ‘‘ Candy said.

‘‘But this year the club executive decided they wanted to make a significant contribution to the young people of Upper Hutt.’’

The money would be used to help those young people pursue their academic, sporting, cultural or entrepreneurial goals.

The $50,000 was generated through profits from the venue’s pokie machines, Candy said.

An independent selection committee judged the applications on weighted criteria such as how would the person use the funds to help their career or start a busi- ness, could the judges see how that would add value, could the money help them where as otherwise they might struggle and was there anything that set the application apart. The judges - Upper Hutt City Council’s director of community services Mike Ryan, realtor Jamie Gillies from The Professionals, Mitsubishi car dealer Colin Gething and Caro Anderson of Service IQ - also wanted to see that the applicant had worked hard on their career.