The British Women Pilots’ Association (BWPA) has confirmed the winners of its 2020 series of aviation scholarships.
The BWPA offers scholarships every year to support women in the UK in achieving their flying dreams, underlying its key aim to promote their training and employment within the sector.
For this reason, says the BWPA, a proportion of the Association’s membership fees is used to fund scholarships. The BWPA also actively works with partner organisations to extend what it is able to offer, and so help to raise awareness and aspirations.
“Only 5-6% of professional pilots in the UK and worldwide are women and the percentages in general aviation are similar. Much of this is due to lack of information and opportunity,” explains BWPA Chairwoman Sharon Nicholson.
“The BWPA saw a large increase in the number of applications for this round of scholarships. The winners are all extremely impressive individuals who are already giving a great deal to aviation, including encouraging other women to consider flying as a hobby or career. We hope these scholarships will support them in achieving their ambitions and continuing to inspire others” added Ms Nicholson.
The BWPA says that well over 100 women from across the UK applied for the scholarships through submitting information on their current aviation experience, what they enjoy most about flying, why they believe they deserve the award and how they would use the award if successful. They were shortlisted by a panel of judges who determined which of the candidates showed the most promise for their future flying.
This year’s scholarships were provided by the BWPA, CATS Aviation, Bristol Groundschool, Easy PPL and the Wings Alliance.
These awards will help scholarship winners in various ways, says BWPA, including gaining their first qualifications, starting their training to become commercial pilots, or assisting them in finding a first job with an airline.
Laura Fice, winner of a CATS Aviation Training ground school course said: “The scholarship is a vote of confidence in me – it is fantastic to have it amongst my achievements and to have that support from the BWPA. Everything is now in place to make this the right time for me to move my career forward. To have someone invest in me is such a great support.”
Alison Field – BWPA Easy PPL ground school scholarship
Daisy Bing – BWPA Flying Start Scholarship
Emma Wooledge – BWPA Bristol Groundschool scholarship
Fiona Smith – BWPA CATS ground school scholarship
Hannah Nobbs – BWPA Flying High Scholarship
Maleha Khan – BWPA Flying Start Scholarship
Lucy Wootton – BWPA Flying High Scholarship
Laura Mayer – BWPA Flying High Scholarship
Laura Fice – BWPA Bristol Groundschool scholarship
Pernia Zeb – BWPA Wings Alliance scholarship
Steph Smith – BWPA Easy PPL ground school scholarship
