STUDENTS have benefitted from £16,000 worth of monetary awards as part of a charity's campaign to help them progress in their chosen fields.

Forty applications for grants from The John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation were approved for Ferndown Upper School pupils at a prestigious ceremony on Monday (FEB 8).

Linda and Pete Thornton set the charity up in the name of their son John Thornton - who was also a pupil at the school - killed in Afghanistan on March 30, 2008.

The Lieutenant had dreamed of being an officer in the Royal Marines from the age of 13 and achieved an incredible amount during his life, including climbing Kilimanjaro, flying with the Red Arrows and travelling across New Zealand.

Now in its eighth year, the foundation aims to help young people across 20 organisations, including educational and social groups, with the awards ceremony being an important date for Mr and Mrs Thornton.

The funds handed over to students - whom this year asked for financial help towards everything from archery to building green cars - are made up from fundraising events held throughout the year by Pete and Linda and their many supporters.

"The ceremony was lovely, they had all the dignitaries there and the students got the chance to speak to them all afterwards," charity secretary Linda said. "It was a great day, one of the best of the year. Pete and I always look forward to it so much."

Applicants included county badminton player Beth, as well as Jodi who is going to volunteer at a monkey rescue sanctuary in Africa. Lauren is going to work at a children's home in Thailand and James has asked for funds to buy his own archery equipment after he was spotted at a national competition.

"He was spotted as having exceptional talent but he's renting his equipment at the moment," Linda added.

"It's a great experience for them really, to go through the process, with good life skills for the future.

"These awards have got more and more popular so now the competition's pretty tough. The ones who have been awarded should be really proud of their achievement."