Education
The Invercargill Licensing Trust celebrated 65 recipients at its 2026 Tertiary Scholarship Presentation, held at Ascot Park Hotel on November 2.
Each recipient received $2,000 per year for three years to support their tertiary studies, with scholarships awarded to both school leavers and adult learners.
ILT along with some other community funders are also involved in the ‘Steering Your Future’ tertiary preparation programme.
Focusing on helping Pacifika students into tertiary studies, five students received scholarships this year:
Matthew Peteru (SBHS), TJ Mokoroa (SBHS), Ethan Tamariki (SBHS), Simpson Stevenson (SBHS) and Marlina Karena (JHC).
ILT president Paddy O’Brien said the scholarships recognised the recipients’ achievements, character and aspirations.
“The 2026 recipients represent a broad spectrum of interests and career ambitions, from engineers to artists, healthcare professionals to teachers. It’s an exciting time as they prepare to take the next step, meet new people and discover where their studies might lead them.
“We’re proud to be part of that journey and wish them every success,” he said.
Each applicant is interviewed by a panel of three adjudicators, who consider academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, community contribution and future aspirations.
“The selection panel were impressed by the calibre of applicants and the contributions they are already making to their schools and communities,” he said.
“These scholarships recognise not only their achievements so far, but also their potential.”
Since launching its tertiary scholarship initiative in 2007, ILT has supported more than 1,000 local students with funding exceeding $5 million.
“These tertiary scholarships highlight our ongoing commitment to education and opportunities for young people, from the Learn to Swim programme to our support for the Youth Mark awards, Southland Secondary School Sports and initiatives like Young Enterprise,” Paddy said.
The 2026 ILT Tertiary Scholarship recipients are:
Elise Anderson, SGHS; Katy Brown, St Margaret’s College; Quin Brown, Verdon; Reese Cajayon, Verdon; Amelia Cameron, JHC; Sofia Campbell-Wall, JHC; Lexie Caudwell, JHC; Lachlan Checketts, JHC; Ruby Coleman, Te Wharekura o Arowhenua; Jorja Creedy, SGHS; Samuel Dawson, JHC; Amelia-Jayne de Thierry-Curry, JHC; Emmerson Dickson, SGHS’ Lucy Drake, SGHS; Roisin Dyer, JHC; Jacob Earley, JHC; Aria Emms, JHC; William Fincher, SBHS; Aneeka Fosbender, JHC; David Hardy, JHC; Jessica Huang, SGHS; Sophie Ineson, SGHS; Lilah Jack, JHC; Jack Jia, JHC; Marlina Karena, JHC; Ryder Laverty, JHC; Cissie Lung, JHC; Erin Macnamara, Verdon; Ezra MacNaughton, Verdon; Angus Manson, SBHS; Timothy McIlhone, SBHS; Joel Minani, Verdon; TJ Mokoroa, SBHS; Trent Moss, JHC; Cora O’Rourke, JHC; Blessing Peseta, SGHS; Matthew Peteru, SBHS; Ella Pope, SGHS; Aknara Premathilaka, SGHS; Luca Pudda, Verdon; Dikshya Pun, SGHS; Meg Ril;ey, SGHS; Jasmine Rivera, Verdon; Tyla Robinson, SGHS; Alexander Sandiford, JHC; Kyra Savory, JHC; Louis Smith, JHC; Natalie Snoek, JHC; Ethan Stark, JHC; Emma Steele, JHC; Simpson Stevenson, SBHS; Janika Stirling, JHC; Ethan Tamariki, SBHS; Roimata Taylor, Aurora; Levi Te Amo, SBHS; Neve Templeton, JHC; Olivia Thomas, Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu; Annie Tran, JHC; Jorgia Tucker, SGHS; Isabella Ursell, SGHS; Mirek Valosek, JHC; Matilda Vincent, JHC; Kate Wills, SGHS; Shaun Winter, JHC; Hasya Zairal Azmi, SGHS.
