The REACT Foundation 2012 Award Winners.

 Thousands of pounds were handed out by the REACT Foundation on Thursday, September 13th. The reward had been promised to the teenagers earlier on in the year and was finally handed out after they secured a place at either university or A-level choice.

Kyran Clark, of Keswick School, and Helena Tranter, of Cockermouth School, scooped the two bursary titles.

They were awarded the top prizes after applying for an engineering-related degree at university which they start this month.

Kyran, 18, of Keswick, who will embark on a four-year chemical engineering course at the University of Manchester, said: “A few years ago I was lucky enough to be chosen for the Foundation’s Year 11 Award and that set me in good stead during my A-levels, so I knew I wanted to apply for the Bursary.

Helena, 18, of Bridgefoot, who will study a three-year civil engineering course at Birmingham University, added: “I’m thrilled to finally have the Bursary money in my hand – I will put it to use for my course and buy things I would have otherwise had to fund myself.

Samuel Cole, 18, of Seaton, walked away with a further £1,000 bursary from Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) West Cumbria - now in its third year. The bursary is offered in addition to the Foundation’s fund in recognition of its help encouraging West Cumbrian students into a mechanical engineering-related degree.

The charity has also seen an outstanding response for the cash prizes this year - 13 other young hopefuls were also given £200 each at the Foundation’s Award Evening held at The Beacon, Whitehaven. The Year 11 teenagers had been hand-picked from hundreds of entries from secondary schools across the region after pledging to study a STEM-related subject at sixth form this term.