The recipients and their friends and family gathered in the Civic for the presentation, which was emceed by the captains of Gunnedah High School and St Mary’s College.

Guest speakers included former Gunnedah GP Grahame Deane and former scholarship recipient Aylish Flannery.

Dr Deane presented scholarship certificates and reflected on his time in Gunnedah and stressed the importance of embracing opportunities.

“Young people are the future of Gunnedah,” he said.

“We need the workforce, and the scholarships that are available, some of the ones we present today, aim at trying to allow students to have the opportunity to put it toward their studies.

“We need to expose our young people to rural work and to have that opportunity to experience working in a rural area.

“It’s important to realise that we can make a difference.”

Aylish Flannery shared stories of her time overseas after completing a bachelor of education at the University of New England (UNE).

“I was grateful that Gunnedah was there to support me and when they hit me with that compulsory university upkeep fee, I was also very grateful to have receive financially some assistance from Gunnedah Shire Council as well,” she said.

“When you go off to university, know that Gunnedah is always home and we believe in you.”

Carinya Christian School 2017 dux, Amelia Dunlop, said the scholarship fund was “testament” to Gunnedah’s community spirit. She will pursue physiotherapy at the University of Newcastle this year.

Her parents, Scott and Jo praised the fund for assisting local students.

“It is tough going down to uni for country kids and the costs associated with relocation,” Mr Dunlop said.

“I think country kids really shine and mature as they move out of home and go to uni.”

Mrs Dunlop said she hoped the recipients would return to Gunnedah after university.

“We need rural kids to come back to rural areas and this is an encouragement to come back to rural areas and give back a bit,” she said.

Like Amelia, Gailina Stone attended Carinya Christian School and will take on a double degree of agriculture and business at UNE.

“The money will probably go towards textbooks and study equipment so I can get the most out of my course,” she said.

“It’s just helpful to ease the financial pressure of that.”

Fellow recipient Bianca Day finished her HSC at Calrossy Anglican School in 2016 and will start a bachelor of education (Kindergarten-Year 6) on February 18 at UNE.

The local said the funds will help her “get set-up”.

Issabell Hunt did her HSC at St Mary’s in 2016 and will start a bachelor of paramedics at Charlesturt University in Bathurst this month.

“It’s about three-and-a-half hours away and it sort of helps with accommodation because you can’t live at home,” she said.

“There’s a lot of new literature and books and you can’t buy secondhand, so that [money] will help with the costs.”

More than $22,000 was divided among the recipients.

The full list of scholarship recipients: