Isabella Bradley

A degree in marine biology at Plymouth University is 16 year old Isabella’s main ambition at the moment with a career in that discipline hopefully to follow. So her dedication to the sport of scuba diving should really come in handy.

While studying biology, maths, geography and photography at Fulston Manor School, Isabella has been spending all her spare time gaining qualifications in her hobby, including advanced open water, enriched air diver, emergency first response and rescue diver. Ultimately, she wants to become a Dive Master, which is the first working qualification, and this would help pay her way through university.

All this takes a lot of independent study, classroom work and practising scenarios as well as great financial commitment.

The cost of oxygen cylinders, weights, wetsuit, drysuit, dive watch, boots, fins and mask, coupled with various training courses and a trip to Egypt for coral conservation work, all mount up.

So far, her proud mother had been paying all the bills, but the Trustees were pleased to make a contribution in April 2021.

Bethany Dewey

This talented 18 year old artist had begun her third year studying graphic design and fine art at Mid Kent College when she applied for support from the Fund  in October 2020.

Bethany had tackled a number of medical challenges which made life difficult for her socially, so painting and drawing became her major pastime, with many hours spent in her bedroom pursuing her hobby and improving her artistic ability.

However, she has thrived at college and a tutor’s assessment said of one of her projects: “You have worked really hard during lockdown to achieve a highly accomplished and finished project and should be really proud of yourself.

“The research and planning that you have done is of a very high standard and demonstrates that you are able to see a project through from an idea/concept to a highly finished final piece.

“The pages, layout and presentation are also of a very high standard.”

To encourage Bethany with her talent and enable her to continue working at home, Trustees agreed to fund all the arts materials – including paints, canvasses, pencils, art paper, oil and chalk pastels, charcoal and felt tips – that she requested.

Emily Crompton

After receiving assistance from the Fund nearly four years ago, Emily continued to progress her interests in performing arts and musical theatre. She had already performed in the West End and at the O2 and had won several competitions.

Trustees were happy to consider a second application from her three years later in July 2020, by which time Emily had completed a year at the Bird College of Dance in Sidcup and was about to begin training professionally at a drama school in London.

The course itself, coupled with the cost of accommodation and subsistence were being met mostly by her very supportive family and Emily, now 19, says she is looking forward to repaying them from her career earnings in the future.

Trustees were again keen to assist her with her ambition to gain a degree in musical theatre and then embark on a career, beginning perhaps with cruise liners with the ultimate aim of returning to the West End stage.

Nicola Smith

When she first applied to the Fund in 2017, Nicola had already embarked on a three-year golf scholarship in the USA where she was studying for a degree in Criminal Justice. When back in the UK for the summer, she was keen to participate in as many tournaments as possible to help improve her game, and Trustees were happy to help fund the costs of travel and accommodation.

By the following year, Nicola had lowered her handicap to just one, and was representing Kent Ladies’ county team. Most of her tournaments were many miles from home and entailed overnight stays and the Fund was again able to help with those costs.

In 2019 she became Ladies Champion at Sittingbourne and Milton Regis Golf Club and, in the South Region Women’s Championship at Rochester & Cobham Golf Club, Nicola broke the course record by three shots with a round of 67.

A year later, Nicola – still studying and training in the US – had achieved her ambition of becoming a scratch golfer. In early 2020, at the age of 21 – the upper limit for applicants to the Fund – her undoubted potential for golfing success made it easy for Trustees to agree further support as she progressed towards her degree while representing her university in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s top division.

Louis and Finlay Ashford

These twins are naturally alike in many ways, not least being their undoubted abilities and dedication to the world of triathlons.

Having been members of Swale Combined Athletics Club since 2015, they joined Medway Triathlon Club a year later, competing in aquathlons (swim and run) and duathlons (run, cycle, run) as well as the regular triathlons (swim, cycle, run).

Triathlon is an expensive sport to pursue because the three disciplines all incur costs, for equipment, training and coaching if members have the talent and dedication to achieve a high standard.

Trustees were impressed by their demanding schedule, hearing that after completing the normal school work, their training schedule was usually:

Monday – track running and speed work at Medway Park, Gillingham;

Tuesday – swimming at Hoo for two hours;

Wednesday – bike training at Cyclopark, Gravesend for 1.5 hours and 30 minutes running;

Thursday – swimming for another two hours at Strood Leisure Centre;

Friday or Sunday – swimming for an hour at Hoo. 

In October 2019 Trustees agreed to fund both brothers for a full year’s coaching costs.

When they applied to the Fund for support, both brothers were competing in the British Triathlon’s South East Junior Championships for their 13-14 age group, the highest level of competition in the region and both were selected to represent the SE Region’s duathlon team to face a team from the London Region.

Both had also achieved success in the single discipline of cross-country running and were expecting to continue with their hectic training schedule for the foreseeable future.

Oscar Lyle Perez

Thanks to the support of the SYDF, Oscar, now 20, was able as a teenager to attend summer courses over several years to build his skills as an organist, passing the ABRSM Grade 8 with Distinction and working as the Assistant Organist at St Catherine’s Church in Faversham.

Then, after two successful years as Organ Scholar at St Mary-the-Virgin in Dover, Oscar has held the prestigious organ scholarship at the Grosvenor Chapel in Mayfair for two years while studying Economics at University College London.

For this coming year, Covid-19 permitting, he will be continuing his studies in Economics in French and German at Sciences Po in France, while also studying French organ music with various teachers, before returning to UCL to complete his undergraduate degree course. 

William Lewis

William, aged 14, started riding when he was 6 years old and soon became a member of The Pony Club enjoying all the equestrian disciplines and was a member of the junior teams for dressage, show jumping and eventing. By the age of 12 William began to jump Nationally and, with his current pony Proud Melody, an 8 year old grey gelding, began to compete seriously in BS Junior leagues.Funding supported specialised training.

Hard work, dedication and patience have seen William progress through the ranks, working his way to being in the top twenty within the South East silver league and in qualifying for the British Nationals in 2015. His ambition is to earn a place on the British show jumping team.

Will Tumber

Will, aged 14, is currently competing and training in both ITF and WTF style of Taekwondo (WTF being the Olympic style of the sport). In 2014 Will was selected to become a member of the Great Britain Cadet Squad and won a number of competitions including the WTF Nottingham Open and the ITF LTSI Open Championships. In May 2015 he took part in his first world class championship at the Austrian Open which attracts over 1950 international athletes. Will won Bronze in his class. Later that year he won golds at the Liverpool Open and British International Open in London. In December 2015 Will was accepted on to the GB Taekwondo Junior Team. The funding he has received has assisted him in obtaining all the equipment he requires and additional training he needs to compete at this level.

His ultimate ambition is to represent the country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In June 2014 Will was the first person to be nominated to receive the trophy donated by Mrs Sandle.

In October 2014 Will was awarded the Gerry Cassell Annual Special Award.

Ryan Ademi

Aged just 11 years old, Ryan’s passion is for drumming and with the help of SYDF has been able to continue with drumming lessons. His progression has been swift, so much so that his teacher says that he can take his Grade 3 this July. Ryan has been described as an extremely gifted and talented individual who possesses an immense desire to learn and achieve his ambition of reaching grade 8 standard. Ryan has also joined the school band at Borden Grammar School.

Connor Williams

Connor, a dancer, submitted his first application in 2006. His progress was consistently impressive and in January 2012 aged 17, he received an award of £1000 for travel and equipment from the Richard Moreton Bursary Fund. At that time he was in his second and final year at the Brit School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon and was on course to gain a BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts (Dance), an A Level in Social Dance and an A Level in Sociology. He had achieved a high level of dancing particularly at the Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) at ‘The Place’, London and the Central Ballet School and had taken part in a variety of different productions.

Connor was one of 8 chosen from dozens of students to dance a Richard Alston choreographed piece at the ‘Backing Youth’ reception at Buckingham Palace in July 2013.

In April 2015 he was invited to join the cast of the west end show ‘The Lion King’ and in August that year achieved a first-class BA Hons degree.

Connor said: “The support of the Swale Youth Development Fund has played a massive part in helping me achieve my dream of becoming a professional dancer.”

Trustees delight in receiving occasional updates on Connor’s ongoing dance successes.