23 June 1995 Scholarship Winners Thrilled With Award

Thrilled to be the first Certificate in Wool students at Lincoln University to be awarded the new Wools of New Zealand $1000 Scholarships are woolhandlers Mandy Wratt of South Canterbury and Robyne Murray of Taupo.

Wools of New Zealand Group Manager (Grower Services) Lance Wiggins of Wellington, said that an increasing number of competent woolhandlers wished to further their training but were limited financially. Because of that, Wools of New Zealand decided to introduce some scholarships to encourage attendees at its woolhandling courses to continue their education by enrolling at recognised university courses in wool.

Mandy and Robyne are the first of the scholarship winners to take up the study opportunity at Lincoln University with its well-known and respected Certificate in Wool course.

They are currently part of a class of over 30 drawn from all over New Zealand. The course runs for three months and qualifies participants for registration as professional wool classers.

Mandy, who is employed by contractor Bruce Rogers of Timaru, has worked in sheds all over the South Island. She says she has always wanted to learn more about the industry and would one day like to become a wool buyer.

She made the decision last year to enrol in the Lincoln course and saved for the fee. Now the scholarship will cover this and she is thrilled with the way things have worked out.

Mandy speaks for both the scholarship winners when she says she is finding the course very intensive, something of a culture shock having been away from school for so long.

"Being a student is a different life from being in the sheds," she says, "but I had an idea of what it was all about from friends who have been on the course and I'm really enjoying it.”

Mandy's Certificate in Wool from Lincoln University will add to the Wool Handling Certificate she already holds.

Robyne, has come to Lincoln after 12 years in the workforce, mainly around the Taupo area. For the bulk of that time she has worked for Liz Robinson Shearing. She plans to stay down south for a while after completion of the certificate then return north to work for Ray Rangiawha.

Like Mandy, Robyne hopes to use her Lincoln qualification to further her career prospects in the wool industry. It will add to the Q Stencil qualification she already has.

Mandy and Robyne both thank Wools of New Zealand for the generous scholarships and they're looking forward to putting the benefits of their time at Lincoln back into the industry in the years ahead.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.