Joinery student grateful for inaugural Rotary Club award

2nd April 2015 1:53pm - Return to press releases

A joinery student has been awarded £300 by Driffield Rotary Club to get his career off to the best start.
Kurtis Thorpe, 21, of Fridaythorpe, was chosen as the first recipient of an award from the Gordon Leason Carpentry Trust because of his positive attitude, desire to learn and commitment to his craft.
The trust was created in memory of Mr Leason, a skilled carpenter and joiner in Driffield, who passed away aged 92, leaving a bequest to the Rotary Club.
Awards from the trust are intended to help the student buy the expensive but essential tools needed to start out in the trade.

Kurtis said: “Joinery is what I’ve wanted to do since I was young. Originally I wanted to be an electrician but then I saw what my dad could build and I thought joinery was more like my kind of career. You can be more creative – you can shape a piece of wood into whatever you want.
“I’m really grateful to Driffield Rotary Club and to the Gordon Leason Carpentry Trust for this generous award – it’s a big help at the start of my career.”

Shirley Williams, community service officer for Driffield Rotary Club, said: “Gordon was a very skilled craftsman who was very keen that skills were passed on to young people and this is one way we can do this.
“Kurtis has demonstrated the qualities that Gordon admired and we are very pleased to present this award to such a hard-working and dedicated young man.”

East Riding College runs a range of full-time and part-time courses, as well as apprenticeships, in construction courses such as bricklaying, joinery, plastering and civil engineering.
In September, it is introducing new courses in electrical engineering and plumbing for the first time.

Alex Sheldon, the College’s head of construction, said: “This is a very generous award by Driffield Rotary Club and I’m delighted that they will be making this annual award to an East Riding College joinery student.
“High quality tools are essential to the professional joiner but they are a big expense for a working adult, never mind a young student. 
“Along with his dedication to the trade and excellent attitude, this award will help get Kurtis’ career off to the best possible start.”

Gordon Leason ran his own carpentry and joinery business for more than 50 years and always wanted the skills he had learned to be passed onto future generations.
The Gordon Leason Carpentry Trust award will be presented annually to a student at East Riding College who has completed at least two years of an advanced course with diligence and commitment.
Driffield Rotary Club has three other educational awards, for music, medicine and agricultural studies, which are also awarded annually

For more information about the College, go to www.eastridingcollege.ac.uk or call 0845 120 0037.

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Notes to editors

For more information about this press release, call Matthew Croshaw, marketing and communications manager, on 01482 390720 or email [email protected]