Twenty-one Te Kura O Titea Mount Aspiring College (MAC) students are set to begin their further education and training with financial support from Central Lakes Trust (CLT).

CLT distributed scholarships valued at $2,500 each to the MAC students and another 47 high school students from Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes at a ceremony last month.

In total, the scholarships are worth a combined $170,000.

The selection process, managed by six secondary schools in the CLT region, evaluated candidates on more than just grades, CLT chair Linda Robertson said.

"Success takes many forms," Linda said. 

"By looking at students' overall achievements and qualities, we recognise excellence across all aspects of life." 

At the ceremony, which took place in Cromwell, guest speaker Sarb Johal shared insights on how AI is shaping the world both in opportunity and responsibility, Linda said.

CLT has been distributing high education scholarships to Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes students for the past 18 years.

"Including this year’s allocation, we’ve supported 634 young people with scholarships of more than $1.8 million,” Linda said.

MAC recipients this year included Coco Bentley, Eva Gilbertson, Alexis-Sofia Harvey-Wills, Ruby Ives, Anton Jones, Zoe Laws, Annika Massey, Ben McMurray, Josh Moody, Baxter Pollard, Lena Pollard, Abbey Ragg, Daisy Sanders, Ella Sarginson, Tom Sides, Hugo Sinclair, Zavier Taylor, Tai Treadwell-Burke, Sophie Walsh, Annie Wells, and Lily Wilson.

CLT is a charitable trust that offers financial support for charitable initiatives, including monthly grants to a range of organisations.

Its goal is to improve the lives of residents in Central Lakes and create lasting positive impacts in the region. 

Learn more about CLT here.

PHOTO: Supplied