Three students have been awarded bursaries of £10,000 to support them through their studies.

The Isle of Man Arts Council bursaries are for students moving into or currently in further or higher education and are worth £10,000 over the duration of a course.

Saroja Lily Ratnavel has been awarded The Jonathan Gollow Bursary for Performing Arts.

She will be attending The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) to study for a Master of Fine Arts degree in professional acting.

Saroja Lily said: ’Getting into LAMDA has been an absolute dream come true as it was my number one school.

’I’ve always wanted to be an actor so this is a really exciting step for me. I’m really excited to get started this term and get stuck into it.’

Kipenzi Thomas has been awarded The Norman Sayle Bursary for Visual Art and Literature. He will be studying for a degree in men’s fashion and technology at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Kipenzi said: ’This has been such a great opportunity. I couldn’t have imagined being able to have this much support from a local organisation to help me progress and fulfil my dreams.

’Before this, I wanted to do law and I thought to myself, if there was a possibility that I could go into the arts and go full force with my dreams then I’d take it.’

The Isle of Man Arts Council bursary has been awarded to Callum Rowe, who is studying for a degree in popular music at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Callum said: ’I’ve been studying at the Royal Northern College of Music for a year now already and without the Isle of Man Arts Council’s support I wouldn’t be able to continue between living costs, house fees and the fees of the school as well so it means a lot that I can go and do what I love for a university course.’

Talent

Isle of Man Arts Council chairman Marlene Maska MLC said: ’We are delighted to make these awards to three extremely talented students and we hope the bursaries will provide a springboard to them furthering their careers in the arts.

’We received many applications for the new bursaries - all were of an extremely high standard which reflects the depth of talent on the Isle of Man in the Arts, as well as being testament to the high standards of teaching students receive here.’

The bursaries are named in memory of former Isle of Man Arts Council members members, music promoter Jonathan Gollow and artist Norman Sayle and will be awarded annually.