Mayor Bob Pynsent with recipient Jenae Madden

Recipients of the annual Cessnock Mayoral Scholarships were announced 4 May.

Cessnock City Mayor, Councillor Bob Pynsent, stated that the scholarship program has been running since 2002 and aims to help young people develop job-ready skills for industries that offer gainful employment in the Cessnock Local Government Area (LGA). These include hospitality, tourism, education, engineering, medical, mining, communications and manufacturing.

The scholarships worth $2,500 are to be used over 12 months. They were awarded to:

• Vanessa Whipp, Cessnock
• Mark Marsland, Elrington 
• Melanie Albert, Ellalong
• Jenae Madden, Keinbah
• Caitlan Stewart, Kurri Kurri
• Miki Poole, Aberdare
• Kasey Scott, Cessnock

Applicants were selected on the basis of academic merit, community involvement and achievement, and went through an interview process.

The scholarships will help the students on their journey to TAFE or University, and were developed as a result of ABS census statistics that identified Cessnock as being below the NSW average for higher education.

Some 218 scholarships have been awarded since the Mayoral Scholarships program began. Cessnock City Mayor said the program helped to relieve some of the financial costs associated with studying, acknowledging that textbooks, travel and tools could be costly.

Cessnock City Council congratulates the winners and thanks this year’s generous sponsors, which include Lioncrest Education, Cessnock Leagues Club, Rotary Club of Cessnock, Solo Resource Recovery and Cole Cornford.