STUDENTS who achieved success by studying close to home received a well-deserved pat on the back at Blackburn College's annual further education awards.

Principal Sheena Ewing joined a host of VIPs and college representatives on stage at Blackburn's King George's Hall to honour hundreds of students who had excelled in their chosen fields. Guest speaker Peter Butterfield, editor of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, told winners and their families of the importance of education and qualifications. He praised the achievements of students and the college itself for the range of higher and further education courses on offer, adding that he hoped many would consider continuing their studies there.

Winners were then called to the stage by vice-principal Chris Osborne, where they were each received a certificate and gift token from Mr Butterfield.

Blackburn with Darwen councillor Janice Parker, vice-chairman of the Education and Training Committee, presented two lifelong learning awards before Derek Hall, chairman of the Corporation Board, gave a vote of thanks. The evening ended with a performance by six of the college's performing arts students who sang All I Have to do is Dream, Mood Indigo and Until The Time is Through. Mrs Ewing said: "It was the college's third annual further education awards and it was a very enjoyable evening indeed. The students and their families really appreciated it and I'm proud that many of of them have gone on to secure university places following their time here."

Winners

Business and Management: Salma Ahmed, Sophia Ahmed, Yasser Bhatti, Samina Butt, Michael Courtney, Gavin Ferguson, Nazma Hussain, Majid Iqbal, Sarah Jones, Sadia Khan, Imran Master, Marie McFadden, Shamma Nazir, Jason Orange, Christopher Owen, Vicky Partington, Yasmin Patel, Dawn Rishton, Fazal Shaikh, Sonya Stewart, Hayley Wearing, Gareth West.

Creative Arts: Saimah Asghar, Janine Bell, Sarah Billington, James Blatchley, Andrew Bottomley, Lisa Brown, Adam Butterworth, Kelly Cotton, Shkila Davies, Sadia Ditta, Hannah Duxbury, Adrian Gallagher, David Green, Dawn Halleron, Phillipa Hartley, Claire Holmes, Peter Houghton, Khadija Hussain, Bhavesh Jetha, Laura Johnson, Lindsay Jones, Lydia Jones, Lyndsey Lancaster, Zoe Lyons, Nina Moffett, Keli Nelson, Hayley O'Callaghan, Naik Parveen, Jagruti Patel, Angela Remez, Gemma Rhodes, Ann Marie Ridgway, Sarah Salim, Karen Schofield, Omme Sheikh, Sarah Strickland, Graham Tsang, Adrian Walker, Karen Watkinson, Paul Willacy, Irfana Younis. Sixth Form Studies: Mukhrar Adam, Lee Anderson, Javid Anwar, Nadim Aziz, Rachael Brown, Mobinul Chothia, Rifat Choudhary, Caroline Condron, Martin Dillon, Emma Dodds, Suhayl Dudhia, Maria Dwyer, Sean Dwyer, Christopher Eddleston, Victoria Gawcett, Mary Foster, Christopher Foulds, Nisha Gosai, Jennifer Haworth, Saicka Hussain, Sophia Isa, Carl Lightbown, Wasleem Majid, Salim Makda, Christopher Marsh, Faruqe Master, Rizwan Nawid, Robert Palk, Shabbir Patel, Somaiya Patel, Deborah Peyton, Alexander Priest, Mudassar Saleem, Andrew Simmons, Lucy Stewart, Christina Swinson, Rebecca Thomas-Fisher, Lynsey Todd, Abigail Whittaker, Mary Woods, Matthew Yardley.

Technology: Rifat Ali, Imran Bax, Ryan Broadhurst, Mark Crotty, Shakeel Desai, Nazakat Hussain, Wajid Hussain, Ayaz Patel, Fiaz Solkar.

Achievement: Business Management: David Adam, Saghir Ahmed, Aneala Asghar, Marie Aspin, Janice Balderstone, Sofiana Bostan, Nichola Clements, James Driver, Andrew Green, Andrew Hawrylak, Philip Heyworth, Urfan Iqbal, Nazia Parveen, Imran Patel, Zahir Patel, Maureen Kwan, Sajid Rasul, Sultan Razaq, Sobia Saeed, Naveed Sharif, Diane Sprague, Emma Stanley, Tracey Stewart, Nicola Thornley, Zaheeda Yousaf.

Creative Arts: Anna Ashworth, Carrie Bennett, Claire Bibby, Karenne Brighouse, Philip Bold, Andrew Butterworth, James Corbett, Joann Datkiewicz, Joanne Dixon, Alex Drobysz, Mumtaz Ismail, Louise Fowles, Deborah Gerard, Sally Griffiths, Stacey Houghton, Donna Jackson, Beverley Lynch, Sumayya Makda, Gemma Maxwell, Amanda Marsden, Katrina Morton, Elaine Newell, Minhajjuddin Patel, Shamilah Razaq, Andrea Riley, Ann Salisbury, Janet Scowcroft, Becky Slater, Brendan Slee, Chris Summers, Leilah Taylor, Patricia Taylor, Louise Whitewell, Matthew Whyatt, Kevin Wright, Michael Youds. Sixth Form Studies: Afsha Ali, Beverley Anderson, Awais Anwar, Shabaz Ashraf, Deborah Aspin, John Bancroft, Hilary Cass, Caroline Condron, Heather Connearn, Carol Corrigan, Daniel Critchley, Ian Curry, Anisa Dadabhai, Katie Darby, Nicola Dinsdale, Leon Dixon, Julie Eatwell, Georgina Eccles, Angela Fitzpatrick, Mary Foster, Christopher Foulds, Ruth Gaskill, Ben Hilton, Tracy Hobson, Rizkwan Hussain, Peter Joyce, Zuleka Karrlia, Tracy Kenyon, Sameena Khalid, Nasima Khalifa, Suzanne Lawrensen, Minaz Naik, Louisa Naylor, Leon Panwaskar, Sumaiya Patel, Simon Peacock, Heath Reidy, Lindsey Roberts, Robert Sharratt, Katherine Shephard, Lucy Slater, Laureen Smith, Kerry Watt, Sarah Weal, Lauren Winder.

Technology: Stephen Cronshaw, Akil Desai, John Griffin, Mahzar Gulzar, Damian Harrison, Shakeel Hussain, Abdul Khan, Abdul Moulvi, Rizwan Patel, Grant Prescott, Darren Smith, Amar Sohrab, Mohammed Tantwala, Zaheen Yasin. Outstanding Achievmeent: Marie Allen, Ian Curry, Nicola Dinsdale, Angela Fitzpatrick, Rebecca Greenhalgh, Emma Harwood, Victoria Holden, Victoria Holland, Louisa Naylor, Simon Peacock, Pritpaul Rehal, Naveed Sharif. Principal's Award for Endeavour: Noreen Akhtar, Peter Gradwell, Shoaib Patel, Angela Remez, Rizwan Sharif. Sporting Achievement: Sharon Blackburn, Rachel Collinge. Musical/Performing Arts: Helen Latham, Sarah Pilkington, Ruth Taberner. Public Service: Kiel Gilleade, Jane Hindle. Charitable Event: Alex Aspden, Nichola Clements, Doreen Farnworth, Ghazala Hussain, Wai Li, Sobia Saeed, Navidd Sharif, Lisa Walsh.

CACHE Course Creative Arts: Laura Bennett, Chelsea Cargill, Kelly Cotton, Jenni Dutton, Aysha Esat, Stephanie Lodge, Sarah Lomas, Kirsty Lovett, Lynsey Matthews, Karen McNamee, Laura Waters, Karen Watkinson, Shaban Ugradar. Art: Claire Duckworth, Sarah Newton. Life Long Learning: Sabine Stanley, Mary Wood.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.