Finlays Community Trust is delighted to announce that it has today awarded prestigious Masters and Undergraduate Scholarships to 30 students from Kericho and Bomet Counties. The awards ceremony took place at the Exotic House in Kericho County and was presided over by H.E Dr. Erick Mutai, The Governor Kericho County.

The Masters Scholarship was inspired by the need to provide beneficiaries with unique technical and soft skills, allowing them to compete in both the local and global labour markets. It is funded by Swire Group and administered by Finlays Community Trust. By exposing the students to different cultures, they are able to expand their personal and professional networks which are key to the development of their communities. Two students are chosen each year through a highly competitive process to pursue a master’s degree at a university of their choice in the United Kingdom. Since its inception, the scholarship has benefited 21 students and has cost more than Kshs 91.6 million.

The Undergraduate Scholarship was awarded to 28 recipients, 22 of whom were from the 11 constituencies in Kericho and Bomet counties (two from each constituency) and six (6) of whom were Finlays employees’ dependents. The scholarship targets bright and needy students from the two counties. Each year, 28 students are accepted into the program. Students from all the eleven constituencies in the two counties are eligible for the scholarship. A highly competitive process is used to select the recipient. The scholarship is valued at Kshs. 150,000/= per student per academic year for the duration of the program. As part of the scholarship package, the recipients also receive a laptop computer. The scholarship has benefited 372 undergraduate degree students and has cost more than Ksh. 99 million since its inception.

Finlays Community Trust has three scholarship programmes. Through the programmes, the Trust annually supports 20 secondary school students, 28 undergraduate students at local universities, and 2 graduate students at universities of their choice in the United Kingdom. So far, the three scholarship programmes have benefitted 546 secondary school students, 372 undergraduate students, and 21 graduate students at a cost of Kshs 236.1 million.

At Finlays Community Trust, we believe that investing in our children’s education today has a better return on investment for the community and society as a whole in future.