New fund established to help rural students

A new fund has been set up to support people from rural communities to access UHI courses. The Witherby Publishing Group Charitable Trust has donated £105,000 to provide scholarships and bursaries to talented individuals across the Highlands and Islands over the next three years.

The donation will be used to provide scholarships to one new student each year, giving financial support for the duration of their study. Students will also be able to apply for bursaries of up to £1000 to help them buy equipment, attend conferences, take part in field trips or to help with unexpected costs.

As well as providing financial support, the fund will also be used to create a new ambassador programme to help inspire and empower young people in rural communities.

Iain Macneil, owner and CEO of Witherby Publishing Group, along with the other trustees, agreed to make the award. Iain left Castlebay High School on the Isle of Barra at 16 to join the Merchant Navy. As someone with dyslexia, he found it difficult to read training manuals, but did not let this hold him back. He enjoyed a successful career at sea before going on to develop software to help other seafarers through their maritime exams. In 2008, Iain and his wife, Kat Heathcote, acquired Witherby Publishing, a London based publishing company which has the accolade of being the oldest independent publishing company in the English-speaking language. Today it is the world's largest independent marine publisher in addition to being one of Scotland's largest publishing companies.

Iain was awarded an honorary doctorate from UHI in 2022 and was inspired to explore how Witherby Publishing Group Charitable Trust could support talented individuals from island and rural communities. He explained: "It was a moving experience for me at the graduation ceremony at Eden Court in September 2022 to see first-hand so many people from the Highlands and Islands being helped to attain further and higher education, regardless of their age.

"Often the education and career decisions we make in our mid-to-late teens and early twenties do not reflect our actual skills or potential and the engagement work that UHI is undertaking in the rural communities of the North and West of Scotland with students of all ages, is incredibly important. The potential benefits that are achievable when people recognise that it's not too late to learn or re-skill was something that our charitable trust definitely wanted to get behind and we are delighted to be supporting UHI in this cause."

Alison Wilson, UHI's Director of Advancement and Alumni Engagement, said: "It's a privilege to meet people like Iain who want to make a difference to the lives of young people in rural areas by supporting UHI scholarships and bursaries. The fact we both grew up in the Highlands and Islands at a time when people had to leave the region to go to university makes this donation and the sentiment behind it even more poignant. The generous funding from the Witherby Publishing Group Charitable Trust will play an important role in enabling and encouraging people to access UHI courses from their own communities."

To find out more about the Witherby Publishing Group Charitable Trust Scholarship, visit www.uhi.ac.uk/witherby

__________________________________

Maoin ùr air a stèidheachadh gus oileanaich dhùthchail a chuideachadh

Chaidh maoin ùr a stèidheachadh airson taic a thoirt do dhaoine à coimhearsnachd dhùthchail gus cùrsaichean UHI fhaighinn. Tha Urras Carthannach Buidheann Foillseachaidh Witherby air £105,000 a thoirt seachad airson sgoilearachd agus bursaraidhean a sholarachadh do dhaoine tàlantach air feadh na Gàidhealtachd is nan Eilean thar nan trì bliadhna a tha romhainn.

Thèid an tabhartas a chleachdadh gus sgoilearachdan a thoirt do aon oileanach ùr gach bliadhna, a' toirt taic-airgid fhad 's a bhios iad ag ionnsachadh. Bidh cothrom aig oileanaich cuideachd cur a-steach airson bursaraidhean suas ri £1000 gus an cuideachadh le bhith a' ceannach uidheamachd, a' frithealadh cho-labhairtean, a' gabhail pàirt ann an cuairtean làraichean a-muigh no gus cuideachadh le cosgaisean ris nach robh dùil.

A bharrachd air a bhith a' toirt seachad taic ionmhais, thèid a' mhaoin a chleachdadh cuideachd gus prògram tosgaire ùr a chruthachadh agus cuideachadh le brosnachadh is cumhachd a thoirt do dhaoine òga ann an coimhearsnachdan dùthchail.

Dh'aontaich Iain MacNèill, sealbhadair agus Ceannard Buidheann Foillseachaidh Witherby, agus na h-urrasairean eile an duais a thoirt seachad. Dh'fhàg Iain Àrd-sgoil Bhàgh a' Chaisteil ann am Barraigh aig aois 16 bliadhna airson a dhol dhan Chabhlach Mharsanta. Mar chuideigin le doille-fhacail (dyslexia), bha e duilich dha leabhraichean-làimhe trèanaidh a leughadh, ach cha do leig e le seo a chumail air ais. Chòrd cùrsa-beatha soirbheachail ris aig muir mus deach e air adhart gu bhith a' leasachadh bathar-bog airson maraichean eile a chuideachadh tro na deuchainnean mara aca. Ann an 2008, cheannaich Iain agus a bhean, Kat Heathcote, Witherby Publishing, companaidh foillseachaidh stèidhichte ann an Lunnainn aig a bheil cliù mar a' chompanaidh foillseachaidh neo-eisimeileach as sine sa Bheurla. An-diugh is e am foillsichear mara neo-eisimeileach as motha san t-saoghal a bharrachd air a bhith mar aon de na companaidhean foillseachaidh as motha ann an Alba.

Fhuair Iain dotaireachd urramach bho UHI ann an 2022 agus chaidh a bhrosnachadh gus sgrùdadh a dhèanamh air mar a b' urrainn Urras Carthannach Buidheann Foillseachaidh Witherby taic a thoirt do dhaoine tàlantach à coimhearsnachdan eileanach agus dùthchail. Mhìnich e: "Bha e na fhìor eòlas dhomh aig cuirm ceumnachaidh Eden Court san t-Sultain 2022, a bhith faicinn na h-uimhir de dhaoine às a' Ghàidhealtachd is na h-Eileanan a' faighinn cuideachadh gus foghlam adhartach is àrd-ìre fhaighinn, ge bith dè an aois a bha iad.

"Gu tric chan eil na co-dhùnaidhean foghlaim agus dreuchd a nì sinn nar deugairean meadhan-gu-deireadh agus tràth-fhicheadan a' nochdadh ar fìor sgilean no ar comas, agus tha an obair conaltraidh a tha UHI a' dèanamh ann an coimhearsnachdan dùthchail ceann a tuath agus taobh an iar na h-Alba, le oileanaich de gach aois, air leth cudromach. B' e na buannachdan a dh'fhaodadh a bhith comasach nuair a dh'aithnicheas daoine nach eil e ro fhadalach ionnsachadh no ath-sgileadh, rudeigin a bha ar n-urras carthannach gu cinnteach airson a dhol air cùl agus tha sinn air leth toilichte a bhith a' toirt taic do UHI san adhbhar seo."

Thuirt Alison Wilson, Stiùiriche UHI airson Adhartas agus Com-pàirteachadh Alumni: "Tha e na urram coinneachadh ri daoine mar Iain a tha airson diofar a dhèanamh do bheatha dhaoine òga ann an sgìrean dùthchail le bhith a' toirt taic do sgoilearachdan agus bursaraidhean UHI. Leis gu bheil an dithis againn air fàs suas air a' Ghàidhealtachd agus anns na h-Eileanan aig àm nuair a bha aig daoine ris an sgìre fhàgail airson a dhol don oilthigh, tha an tabhartas seo agus am faireachdainn air a chùlaibh, eadhon nas tiamhaidh. Bidh àite cudromach aig a' mhaoineachadh fhialaidh bho Urras Carthannach Buidheann Foillseachaidh Witherby ann a bhith a' comasachadh agus a' brosnachadh dhaoine gu cùrsaichean UHI às na coimhearsnachdan aca fhèin."

Gus tuilleadh fhaighinn a-mach mu Sgoilearachd Urras Carthannach Buidheann Foillseachaidh Witherby, tadhail air www.uhi.ac.uk/witherby