Meet this year's IMI bursary winners
The IMI want to help and support people from all backgrounds into and through their automotive career. So, the IMI offers an annual bursary to a member of the IMI community who has faced personal or financial challenges and who has a passion for automotive to be able to access learning, tools or resources that enable them to progress.
We were thrilled to present the IMI Bursary to two incredibly talented individuals: Teagan Whiteman and Matthew Ford!
Teagan Whiteman, Fix Auto
Teagan was inspired by a school project where she designed the graphics for a race car. She broke the norm by becoming the first family member to start a career in automotive and became an automotive refinisher. Not only did she compete in the WorldSkills UK 2024 Refinishing competition where she won a bronze medal, she has also been shortlisted to compete at an international level as part of Squad UK, being eligible to represent the UK refinishing sector on a global platform.
As if this wasn’t enough to celebrate, she also saw the importance encouraging other young people to take up a career in automotive and has since become an Apprentice Ambassador.
Matthew Ford, Monmouth MOT Centre
The second bursary winner is a Matthew Ford, who has demonstrated great strength and courage. He too broke away from the family norm of following career paths in the military and decided upon a career as a Light Vehicle Technician for an independent garage. He also went forward to compete in the IMI Skills Competitions last year. Just a few days before the national qualifiers, sadly he received the terrible news of a family bereavement. Despite this tragic loss he made the decision, with the support of his family to continue to compete and went on to win a silver medal in Light Vehicle Technology- showing great courage in such difficult circumstances.
Congratulations to both Teagan and Matthew on these well-deserved awards!
