From The Cayman Islands Governor’s Office

A prison officer has been selected as one of this year’s Chevening Scholars.

Tamekia Young, a supervisor in the Rehabilitation Unit at HM Prison Northward will be heading to the UK in September to study an MSc in Addiction at Kings College London.

The mother of two is one of 1,500 people from around the world handpicked for the year-long scholarship.

Sponsored by the Governor’s Office, applications have just opened for the next cohort in 2020/21.

Chevening Scholarships offer full financial support to study for any of the 12,000 master’s degree courses available at over 150 UK universities.

His Excellency The Governor Martyn Roper said: “Many congratulations to Tamekia. I wish her every success and look forward to hearing how her studies will support her role at the prison.

“Chevening Scholarships provide a fantastic opportunity not only to increase your qualifications but also to meet like-minded people from around the world and have the chance to build knowledge and exchange information in a stimulating environment.

“With our world facing countless challenges, the role that the Chevening community plays in building bridges and collaborating across borders is more important than ever.

“The UK has world leading universities and I want to see even more Caymanians going to the UK universities and taking advantage of the home fees available”

Prison Director Steve Barrett said: “This is a great opportunity for Tamekia to take time out to focus on an area of study that will have great value to us here at the Prison Service particularly as we move towards trauma-informed services and interventions. And it will also give her the chance to explore in depth how addiction affects people and how countries around the world deal with similar situations.”

Tamekia said: “I feel very blessed to have been chosen for this scholarship – it’s an amazing opportunity that I prayed for over the last 15 years and God has answered my prayers.

“In the Cayman Islands we are seeing an increase in people affected by addiction and we need to work to influence positive change in individuals to encourage them and empower them to lead law abiding lives. It’s well known that when people are able to make positive changes in their lives it creates a safer environment for all.

“I want to continue my work as part of that process – to be an agent of change and to provide guidance and help to individuals faced with addiction problems.”

Chevening Scholarships are funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and over 50,000 people have taken advantage of the programme in the last 35 years.

There are more than 1,500 scholarships on offer globally for the 2020/2021 academic year, demonstrating the UK’s long-standing commitment to developing the leaders of tomorrow.

Further information on the Chevening Scholarship programme is available fromwww.chevening.org/scholarships

To apply go to www.chevening.org/apply.

Applications for the 2020/2021 education year are now being accepted. The deadline is 5 November 2019.

Chevening also runs a range of fellowship programmes for mid-career professionals. You can find out which programmes are open at www.chevening.org/fellowships