Wrexham Glyndwr University student receives bursary boost for family business goals

An engineering student at Wrexham Glyndwr University has received a financial boost as she works to gain the skills she will need to help develop her family business.

Kailey Firmin, a first year BEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronic Engineering student has received an Institution of Engineering and Technology Engineering Horizons Bursary, sponsored by Siemens.

IET awards the bursary aimed at apprentices and students who may face, or have faced, challenges or personal obstacles. Kailey, who is deaf, will receive £1,000 a year over three years.

The 31-year-old, who lives in Maesbury Marsh near Oswestry, was officially presented with her bursary at a ceremony in London at the end of last month

Kailey combines her studies with being a mother of three and working two jobs. She is studying at Glyndwr so that she can work with her husband Joshua – also a Glyndwr student – in their new business, Marches Power Engineering Ltd.

As well as her studies, Kailey – who is originally from Southampton – works as a rowing coach for Shrewsbury School and a Student Ambassador at Wrexham Glyndwr University.

“It was a case of if I secured the bursary then I wouldn’t need to worry as much about trying to get the hours for work,” she said of receiving the bursary.

“I was absolutely elated when I got the news – I don’t often win things so to be granted it was just a real relief.”

She used a wireless microphone connected to her hearing aids to cut out some of the background noise, and lecturers sometimes wear the pen around their necks to help Kailey. They also provide written information from lectures when required.

Kailey, who does not have an engineering background, is completing a level three qualification alongside her first year studies and described the course as “tough and challenging, but the good kind of challenging”.

She said she knew that Glyndwr would be a welcoming environment for her as her sister-in-law, who is also deaf, studied there – and that
she would not be able to pursue her studies without the accessibility and inclusion offered at the university.

“As part of the bursary I was given some questions to fill in and one of them was why did I choose Glyndwr, and I heavily talk about how accessible and friendly it was with all my hearing issues,” she said.

To learn more about studying engineering topics at Wrexham Glyndŵr University, visit https://www.glyndwr.co.uk/en/Undergraduatecourses/