Applications for the 2011 Scholarship are now open, with a closing date of 18th April, 2011. The winner will be announced at the Jan Pentland Foundation Dinner on Thursday 19th May at the Crowne Plaza, Coogee Beach, Sydney.
The inaugural winners of the Jan Pentland Foundation Scholarship were announced on Wednesday 9th June, 2010.
There were 21 applications for the Scholarship and the trustees found it enormously difficult to choose between them.
There were some people who had been in the sector for some time, were already working as financial counsellors but the cost of the Diploma was proving a barrier to them obtaining the qualification.
And then there were a group of applicants who were new to the sector and either wanted to become a financial counsellor or had just started working in the role. Financial assistance would enable them to start their careers.
What all the applicants had in common was a commitment however, like Jan herself, to social justice and to financial counselling.
In the end the trustees resolved the dilemma - this year at least - by deciding to award two scholarships.
One scholarship was awarded to a person who has been in the field for some time - Cheryl Buttigieg. This scholarship will enable Cheryl to gain the formal recognition and training she so obviously deserves.
The other scholarship was awarded to a person who would like to enter the field, and has a track record already in working with disadvantaged communities - Mwajemi Hussein. The scholarship will enable Mwajemi to expand the assistance offered to the African community in South Australia where she lives.
Both Cheryl and Mwajemi plan to use the scholarship to obtain the Diploma in Community Services (Financial Counselling).
Jan kept a special book of quotes between approximately 1983 and 2007.
This quote below was at the end and we believe had a special significance for her. It describes how she lived her life. It is also the advice she would probably like to pass to the scholarship winner.
"To look is one thing. To see what you look at is another. To understand what you see is a third. To learn from what you understand is something else. But to act on what you learn is all that really matters."