Scholarship chance for youngster who ‘makes a difference’
YOUNG people in Wales “who make a big difference to their local community” are being urged to apply for a scholarship to UWC Atlantic College in Llantwit Major.
The college has educated young people from across the world for more than 50 years at St Donat’s Castle.
The first ever UWC Atlantic College Lord Mountbatten Award will be given to a young person from an underprivileged background in the UK who makes an outstanding contribution to their community.
Examples could include volunteering time to local sustainability projects, working with disadvantaged members of the community, or helping to raise awareness of global issues and addressing them within their own community.
This year’s graduates include Kainat Riaz and Shazia Ramzan, friends of Malala Yousafzai who were with the Nobel Prize laureate when she was injured by the Taliban in Pakistan in 2012. The pair now actively support her international fight for girls’ rights to education.
Other alumni include Welsh AM Eluned Morgan (Class of 1985) who came to the college from Ely in Cardiff and became the youngest ever Member of the European Parliament at the time of her election in 1994. In 2011, Eluned was raised to the peerage and sits in the House of Lords as Baroness Morgan of Ely.
The college was founded in 1962 by Kurt Hahn, a German educationalist. As a Jew who had seen the persecution of World War II first-hand, Hahn’s vision was developed by his post-war experience at the Nato Defence College, where he observed discussion and collaboration between former enemies. He wanted to help forge mutual understanding among young people.
Hahn envisaged a college educating boys and girls from different origins. The selection would be based on personal motivation and potential, regardless of any social, economic or cultural factors thanks to a robust scholarship programme.
It was a vision he shared with Lord Mountbatten. An uncle of the Duke of Edinburgh, Lord Mountbatten became the longest serving professional head of the British Armed Forces to date.
In 1967 the college developed into a movement known as United World Colleges and Lord Mountbatten became the organisation’s president.
The new scholarship marks his contribution.
UWC Atlantic College principal Peter T Howe said: ““The right candidate isn’t just strong academically, but thinks globally and acts locally in their community. The scholarship enables us to give the most deserving students the opportunity to experience, and go on to share, all the rewards provided by a truly transformative international education.
“We’d encourage all students who dream of making a positive difference to the world they inhabit to explore how being part of our college of nations can help them achieve their goals. The Lord Mountbatten Scholarship Award is your chance to make them a reality.”
During their two years at the college’s campus the winning student will live alongside peers from across the globe while studying the International Baccalaureate (IB), which the college helped to create in the late 1960s.
Applications should be made via www.atlanticcollege.org/lordmountbatten-scholarship-award by Sunday, October 15.