Bound for Oxford... a housing estate boy aged 17
Blaine thanks legacy of store tycoon Morrison
A LEGACY of ambition kindled by a Yorkshire institution is helping to forge the brightest of futures for a young Bradford scholar on the brink of success.
Blaine Thomas, raised in one of the country’s most economically deprived areas, has received an offer from Oxford to study law.
It comes after his potential was recognised on an assisted independent school place set up in memory of the late Sir Ken Morrison.
And while he is only too aware of the socio-economic barriers of his history, he says today they can only serve to make him stronger.
“You can’t let those barriers define you,” says Blaine, who is head boy and getting ready for his final exams at Bradford Grammar School, the late supermarket giant chairman’s alma mater.
“You have to work hard and succeed because of them, rather than in spite of them.
“As a Bradford lad, it feels a little closer to home,” the 17-yearold said. “Ken Morrison went from a little market in Bradford to a chain across the UK.
“It’s inspiring to know it’s that legacy helping me to access those same opportunities.”
Blaine, now living in Clayton, Bradford, was raised in a singleparent family on Bradford’s Canterbury estate where he lived until he was 14.
It is an area that falls within one of the country’s most-disadvantaged postcodes.
His mother, Louise Maguire, an administrative worker who could see his ability, urged him to apply for financial support to attend fee-paying Bradford Grammar.
When we meet, in the school’s
Blaine Thomas, head boy at Bradford Grammar School.
BREAKING THE BARRIERS:
imposingly grand entrance hall, he is unfailingly polite in his freshly pressed jacket.
He is quietly spoken and intelligent, with a shy smile and amiable manner.
This smile widens to a beam as he talks about his little brother Ramone, now aged 10. He is very protective, he admits with a grin, but fiercely proud.
“What drives me is to be a role model to my little brother,” he admits. “I want him to see me be successful and be someone he can look up to.
“It’s not about making me proud but him and my mum. They’ve done a lot to support me and when I grow up I want to do the same for them.”
For now, Blaine is concentrating on his upcoming exams, and even as we meet the first study book out of his bag is a copy of The Great Gatsby.
But he has a firm hope for the future in law and in giving a little back when it comes to easing the barriers around social inclusion.
“For me, social mobility is really important,” he says. “I come from a working-lcass family.
“My grandad came from a really poor family and built his way up. To me, that is someone to look up to when it comes to social mobility.
“I’ve always been told that if you work hard you can achieve and have success.
“My background maybe pushes me even more,” he adds. “I knew that I wanted to achieve.
“There weren’t a lot of people around me, going to university, succeeding.
“It’s about wanting to change that. To be that person that came from somewhere where maybe not a lot of people go to university and buck that trend.
“It’s good to break down barriers. But they should be what drives and motivates you, rather than what holds you back.”
I’ve always been told that if you work hard you can achieve.