April Bottom Scholarship

Applications are being invited for the 2009 April Bottom Scholarship.

The April Bottom Fund is administered by BCA and assists one child each year from the Anglican Parish of the West Darling to undertake secondary or tertiary education outside the parish.

April was a unique person - full of fun, life and vision with a Christian commitment. She was born in Broken Hill. Allison House (which was to become a Hostel for children from surrounding areas who would come to Broken Hill for education) was her family home. April served on the Allison House Managing Committee until the time of her death.

She was a regular member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Menindee, NSW, which is now incorporated into the Anglican Parish of West Darling. April had a deep respect for the work of The Bush Church Aid Society and particularly its commitment to provide Anglican Ministry to people in remote parts of Australia.

April and her husband David, ran Wirryilka Station for many years and experienced first-hand the difficulties of having their children educated.

April died in 2003 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Before her death, she expressed a desire to set up a fund to assist families from the West Darling Parish region with the education of their children, especially where they needed to leave the region to achieve their educational potential.

The 2008 recipient, Ellie Kemp was accepted into Medical Science at Flinders University in Adelaide.

Applications for the 2009 April Bottom Scholarship closed on the 15th August 2008. The Award recipient will be advised in October and announced in the Real Australian Summer edition.

Past Winners


Brett Bonsellar from Windalle Station via Menindee was the inaugural winner of the April Bottom Scholarship for 2005. He completed Year 12 in 2007 and has now gone on to do a Bachelor of Agriculture at the University of Adelaide.	Mitchell Foord (2006) from White Cliffs is at boarding school in Bathurst and now in Year 11. In addition to studying hard to achieve his excellent grades, Mitchell continues with his sport. He is also a Dormitory Prefect and tutor to some of the younger students and slower learners.	Winner of the 2007 Scholarship, Sienna McInnes, completed her Certificate 3 in Tourism Retail Sales and has started a new job with Skystar for Jetstar’s check-in at Darwin Airport. Sienna comments “The Scholarship has really helped me with my career! Thank you so much”.	Last year’s winner, Ellie Kemp was offered a place in Medical Science at Flinders University in Adelaide. She was thankful that the Scholarship was able to go towards her boarding facilities there.

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