The Trust welcomes news from those who have received our grants. We have heard recently from the following and are grateful for their permission to use their comments:

Teleri Dyer has completed her training as a music therapist and currently works with adults with mental health issues and children with emotional and behavioural problems: “I hope to expand upon my experiences with children within a mainstream primary school setting and develop family based work within the field of dementia care”.

Teleri has recently returned from delivering a six-week skill-sharing project in Palestine with the organisation Music as Therapy International, which focused on delivering a sustainable and efficient music programme, which would enable local staff to learn the key principles of music therapy.

“None of this would have been possible without the support of the Reid Trust, and I am extremely grateful for their generosity.”

In 2012 Jenny Chapman was awarded an MSc with Distinction in Taxonomy and Biodiversity by Imperial College/Natural History Museum in London. She writes: “Completing the course would not have been possible without your generous support [...] I have just been offered a job in the press office of the prestigious journal Nature”.

Flora Boyd gained an MSc in 2011 in Genetic Counselling. “Competition was high and jobs were fairly scarce during the summer and autumn of 2011. Despite this I was overjoyed to be offered a Genetic Counselling job with the Bristol Regional Genetics Service.”

Flora works under a Consultant Geneticist with people who need, for example, carrier testing for conditions such as Cystic Fibrosis and predictive testing for Myotonic Dystrophy and Huntington’s disease. “In April 2012, additional funding from Macmillan Cancer Support meant my job became full time and also broadened to include seeing people at risk of having high-risk cancer susceptibility genes.”

We would like to congratulate Elizabeth Atherton, a former Reid Trust grant holder (1990-2003), on her very successful career as a performer. She is currently described as one of Britain’s most versatile and promising young singers, performing in a wide range of repertoire in both concert and opera. See www.alliedartists.co.uk for more details of her successes.

Finally Heather Hawkins has been able to fulfil ambitions thwarted at an earlier stage. She writes: “I first became ill during my final years at school. Although I completed my courses from home, I was unable to take the final exam. Later, my hospital consultants supported me in my application to the Open University and for their Disabled Students Assistance.

"I have since been awarded a Diploma in Classical Studies, a BA and MA in Literature. I am currently studying for a PhD in English Literature with Nottingham Trent University. I am researching into Thomas Hardy’s use of dialect in his poetry. I enjoy my studies immensely and have had several papers accepted for academic conferences. I am also Director or the Thomas Hardy Association’s Course Syllabi Webpage, based at the University of St Andrews. I hope eventually to use my qualifications to tutor from home.

"My continuing studies have been made possible by the grants that I have received from the Reid Trust. Without this support, I would be unable to afford to study. The support that the Reid Trust has given me is enabling me to achieve some of the ambitions that I had before I became ill.”