CREDIT: Paul Nicholls
Kaleb Cooper has met the two young agricultural students in receipt of his Royal Agricultural University (RAU) Kaleb Cooper Agriculture Bursary.
Students Rose Geggie, 20, and Rupert Jones (19), have been chosen as the two recipients of the 2024/2025 bursary.
The Clarkson's Farm star also joined the students in a charity tractor pull for the University's students' union annual charity fundraising RAG (Raising and Giving) Week.
Mr Cooper said it had been brilliant.
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"It is the second year of my agricultural bursary with the RAU and I am so proud that once again we have been able to award it to two very deserving young people – that is double what we were aiming for when we started out.
Clarkson's Farm
"I am so passionate about supporting the new generation through into the best industry in the world. Especially as I know from my own experience that it is not an obvious or easy route for someone who does not come from a farming family."
The RAU Kaleb Cooper Agriculture Bursary, which was launched in 2023, currently offers two bursaries annually – one funded by Mr Cooper and one funded by the Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust which has an existing relationship with the RAU – which are open to all the University's undergraduate agriculture students.
The bursary provides students each with a £3,000 payment as well as the opportunity to apply for a work placement with either Mr Cooper or one of his industry partners.
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Ms Geggie, who comes from Lymm in Cheshire, joined the RAU last September to study for a BSc in agriculture. She does not come from a farming background, but said her mum had always supported her ‘agricultural dream'.
"This is an enormous opportunity which will shape my career for many years to come. I do not yet know which direction my career is headed; maybe I will manage a farm, or perhaps even be lucky enough to run my own farm one day, but whatever happens, if I am a farmer, I will be the happiest person in the world."
Mr Jones, from Bournemouth, is also in his first year, studying for a BSc (Hons) in agriculture.
New entrants
He said: "Receiving the RAU Kaleb Cooper Agriculture Bursary has given the start of my studies a real boost, providing inspiration for the future and my career within the agricultural industry. When I heard that I had been selected I was over the moon."
He added coming from a non-farming background he had ‘not yet had the opportunity to gain a good understanding of the working practices of a farm', but the RAU had already given him a great insight into this through his studies.
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"This support from Kaleb will provide further opportunities for me to increase my network within the industry and will help me work towards my goal of having a career in the agricultural sector."
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