By S.Browne. Updated 2:30 p.m., Friday, August 15, 2025, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
Fourteen students have been awarded scholarships and another 175 bursaries through the General Employees’ Cooperative Credit Union (GECCU) annual scholarship programme this year.
Among the recipients of the scholarships were six boys, six girls, from the mainland and one student from the Southern Grenadines and another from the Northern Grenadines.
GECCU which is the country’s largest credit union said recipients were among 189 applicants to the programme. The remaining 175 applicants received a one-off bursary of $175 each, totaling $30,625 in bursaries paid out for 2025.
The scholarship ceremony took place on 12 August 2025 at the Methodist Church Hall in Kingstown.
At the ceremony, CEO of GECCU Ltd, Maxine Richards-Johnney, commended the achievements and potential of the scholarship and bursary recipients. She shared that over the years the programme has evolved and is regularly reviewed to ensure it remains competitive amidst rising prices and economic changes.
She stated: “We know that school-related costs, from transportation to learning materials, continue to rise. It is important to us that our support keeps pace with these realities. We will continue to review the value periodically to ensure that it remains relevant to the realities of the day. With this, we will ensure that it is sufficient to meet our students’ educational needs.”
She also stated that scholarship amounts will increase from September 2025: “From this new school year, we are going to increase the value of our scholarships. Previously, for students from Form 1 to Form 3, the scholarship was $1,600 per year, but going forward from September it will be $1,800. For students from Form 4 to Community College, it used to be $1,800 per year, and now it will be $2,000 per year.”
The feature speaker, Shane Codogan, encouraged the students to carry the acronym “GHARD” with them through life, telling them to “Ghard up themselves.” In this version of “GUARD,” the U was replaced with H, representing the values: G for Gratitude, H for Humility, A for Ambition, R for Respect, and D for Discipline. He explained that embracing these values would help them navigate life’s challenges and achieve success.
From 1981 to the present, 395 students have received scholarships, and currently over 100 students across St. Vincent and the Grenadines in secondary schools and colleges are receiving support. The programme has also provided nearly $230,000 in bursaries to hundreds of CPEA students who were not successful in receiving a scholarship but were successful in their exams.
GECCU stated that this programme was not created merely to be a good corporate citizen, but to open doors, nurture potential, and help shape tomorrow’s leaders.
This information was sent to us by the General Employees’ Cooperative Credit Union (GECCU).
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