PERSHORE student Thomas Wilson-Dowdeswell has been awarded the ‘Ray Steadman Bursary’ by Number 8 community arts centre.

The annual bursary of £300 is for young people going on to pursue further study in the arts and is designed to help support costs of books and course materials in their first year of further or higher education in subjects such as drama, music or art. 

The bursary is in the name of Ray Steadman, one of the original founders of Number 8 who died in 2008.  Applications for the Bursary were open to anyone living in the WR10 postcode area and Thomas was chosen for the award from a number of applicants.

The bursary will be used to support Thomas at the University of Chichester where he is studying for his BA (Hons) in Musical Theatre Performance.

The award was presented to Thomas by Ray Steadman’s widow Sally Steadman in the Number 8 Gallery/Cafe Bar earlier this month.