The John Weightman bursary provides funding towards the development of the Diploma in Social & Therapeutic Horticulture as well as 3 bursary places per year for 3 years.
These bursaries will ensure that those who genuinely need support in financing their studies can be trained to a higher education level so they may go on to develop gardens and programmes for vulnerable people in the future.
John Weightman was a Chartered Engineer from Yorkshire and gardening was always his passion, after he retired, he could happily spend 8 hours a day gardening.
John studied at Cambridge where he took his Mechanical Engineering degree at St Catharine’s College. After Cambridge he joined ICI and was with them for twenty-five years in which time, he became Project Engineer and eventually Head of Engineering for ICI Europa based in Belgium. As ICI collapsed in the 1980’s, he returned to the UK to the Pharmaceuticals Division, then in Cheshire, took retirement and joined Glaxo.
Wherever he lived John made a garden, even planting sunflowers during his National Service. For years he grew all the vegetables the family needed and more, but he loved flowers, shrubs and trees most of all and the garden was his greatest interest in his retirement. He was a very knowledgeable gardener and knew all the Latin names. He has passed on his passion to the next generation.
John had a great life and had important gifts, intelligence, kindness and a great sense of humour; a talent to live life to the full, to be open to every experience
John and his wife Christine lived in Ascot for over 30 years and John organised many garden visits for other retirees, his knowledge was greatly appreciated by those who came. Sadly, a late diagnosis of cancer resulted in his death in February 2021 after a short illness. In his later years John had mild dementia, which made his enjoyment of the garden even more important to him.
“John had a great life and had important gifts, intelligence, kindness and a great sense of humour; a talent to live life to the full, to be open to every experience, to accept and tolerate situations that cannot be changed, and above all to love deeply and be loved in return.”
The John Weightman Bursary will be funded for 3 years and will enable 3 students per year to access this higher education Diploma.
Thrive’s new Diploma has accreditation provided by the Open College Network. The course will run over 2 years as a Higher Education-level Diploma with a blend of self-guided learning, lectures, workshops, tutorials and assessed course work.
Find out about the Diploma in STH
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