NEWS
Newtonian Samantha Obiston has been awarded an Amazon Bursary .
COMMENT
AMAZON BURSARY
Samantha one of 30 UK women to get Amazon engineering bursary
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student from Newton Aycliffe have been named as one of the 2023 recipients of the national Amazon Future Engineer Bursary , making her one of 30 women in the UK to receive the bursary this year .
Newtonian Samantha Obiston – who ’ s at Durham University studying Computer Science with Foundation – has been awarded £ 20,000 by Amazon to support her studies .
The Amazon Future Engineer Bursary provides a financial support package of up to £ 20,000 to students from lowincome households to help address the underrepresentation of women studying computer science and engineering at UK universities .
Samantha was awarded the bursary by demonstrating a passion for innovation and driving change through technology .
She has been awarded the grant to support university-related expenses , including accommodation and living costs , or to
Councillors heard about considerable progress being made towards a more sustainable future , as carbon emission reduction efforts in County Durham reach new heights .
Durham County Council ’ s cabinet were presented with an update on the authority ’ s Climate Emergency Response Plan , which highlights the continued fall in council carbon emissions from its own buildings and activities , alongside the considerable work done to support residents , businesses and community organisations in the transition to a low carbon future .
The report highlighted a further five per cent reduction in the council ’ s carbon emissions in 2022 / 23 , meaning a 59 per cent reduction in contribute towards tuition fees .
Samantha , along with the other awardees , will also receive a package of wraparound support to increase their professional and networking capital .
Since the Amazon Future Engineer Bursary launched in 2021 in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering , Amazon has awarded over £ 1m-worth of funding and currently supports 75 women studying STEMrelated degrees at UK universities .
For Sam , the journey to higher education hasn ’ t been easy .
“ I struggled through school as I had many problems with bullying ,” she explained .
“ I ended up getting excluded in my final year of studying for my GCSEs , so I had to teach myself the content and take the exams alone within just five months .”
Sam is now exploring this new world as she studies Computer Science at Durham University , supported by the Amazon Future Engineer Bursary .
SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON PATH TO NET ZERO
total , from levels in 2008 / 09 . Across the wider county for households , transport and businesses , although emissions increased slightly in 2021 following a return from the covid lockdowns of 2020 , there was still a 52 per cent reduction in total ( from a 1990 baseline ), an improvement on pre-covid levels of 50 per cent .
Key to the success has been progress with a range of projects detailed in the plan .
The work of the council gained attention from the Government ’ s Climate Change Committee , which , under the chairmanship of Lord Deben , visited the county earlier in the year to see first-hand the range of work underway .
BRIGHT YEAR AHEAD
We ’ re looking forward to a positive year ahead after a very successful 2023 for The Work Place .
We ’ re getting an increasing number of companies on the business park signing up to the many courses we offer here at the heart of Aycliffe Business Park , including first aid courses and fire warden courses . We can also provide bespoke training on site .
We ’ ve been providing courses since 2008 and we ’ re now currently delivering to more than 500 delegates per year .
We have a team of professional trainers including a paramedic , an ex-fire officer and a current NHS first response officer .
We also opened a café at The Work Place last year , which is being run by Janie ’ s Pantry – and is open 8.30am to 2pm daily .
The new facility has been so well received by clients , staff , tenants and visitors – creating a great buzz in the building .
Feel free to call in to meet up , have food and drinks in our new lounge area .
Janie ’ s also provide our events catering and can provide events catering for businesses on the park .
It has already established itself as a fantastic addition to the team .
Regarding tenants at The Work Place , all our offices are full . We have 11 tenants currently based here and we like to think of ourselves as a business community .
So , all-in-all we ’ re looking forward to a bright 2024 for The Work Place and all our tenants . Angela Wilkinson
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 11