VetPartners’ bursaries are opening doors for budding vets who may otherwise struggle to fund their dreams of a veterinary career. The scheme is helping to create a much more diverse and inclusive profession.
Ukrainian Thomas Westley’s life has been transformed after finding sanctuary in the UK and being able to study veterinary medicine with the help of financial support from VetPartners.
His journey to becoming a vet is a story of true resilience, determination and strength of human spirit – qualities that will stand him in great stead for his chosen career…..
TEENAGER Thomas Westley sat bolt upright at the sound of frantic banging on his bedroom door at 4am.
For five minutes he didn’t move as he struggled to take in the enormity of what was happening.
Even though he and his fellow Ukrainians had been preparing for a moment like this for months, Thomas still wondered if he was dreaming.
He checked his mobile phone for news, before more banging interrupted his thoughts, followed by loud voices urging him and his fellow university students to evacuate their dormitory as Russian forces were now advancing on the city of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine in their brutal and unprovoked war of aggression.
He snatched his passport and bundled his belongings into a backpack, before hurrying outside, where bangs and flashes of explosions could be seen and heard as the country came under aerial bombardment.
Two years on and now living in the safety and security of the UK which has been his home since he left Ukraine two months after the Russian invasion in February 2022, his experiences of war are etched on Thomas’s memory forever.
Through the UK Government’s Homes for Ukraine Scheme, he was offered sanctuary after a couple in Salford provided him with a safe place in their home. He is now studying veterinary medicine at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston.
His ambition is to become a vet, caring for pets and working in practice, and his dream is being supported by VetPartners which is committed to encouraging wider participation in the veterinary profession through its bursary scheme. The bursaries help to remove the financial barrier preventing many people from pursuing a career as a vet due to the high cost of studying at university.
Thomas, and fellow veterinary students at UK vet schools who are awarded a VetPartners bursary, receive an annual award of £1,500 per year of study for the duration of their degree, typically five years.
As well as part-funding his education by juggling jobs in a hotel and as an interpreter for fellow Ukrainians living in the UK, the bursary has helped to alleviate some of the financial worry for Thomas.
“Finances were a huge problem for me when I arrived here to study,” admits Thomas, who is pictured on a visit to Tameside Vets in Greater Manchester where he shadowed the practice’s clinical director Loren Shearing.
“I needed money for my education and all the other costs of living. I work but have to balance earning money and studying at university so the bursary was a huge boost as it reduced the financial burden significantly and enabled me to pay for bills, clothes and food. The bursaries are a very generous gesture by VetPartners to help those who need it most.”
Thomas had been studying medicine to become a doctor in his native Ukraine before Putin’s bombs and missiles interrupted his life. He arrived in the UK via Poland, Germany and Spain, before a kind British-American couple, Brian and Gavin, offered him a place in their home. He has a sister currently living in safety in Spain and he hopes they can one day be reunited in the UK.
Recalling the horrors of the invasion of his country, Thomas says: “I remember sitting on my bed looking at my phone, wondering if I was dreaming. I was impressed by how the Ukrainian people did not panic at all. There was a spirit of unity with everyone wanting to help each other and help to evacuate families and children. At university, we helped with the evacuation of international students from Africa and India.
“Russians were putting tags on buildings to guide their airstrikes. They said they would not kill civilians which was not true. Two Russian soldiers were in the university masquerading as students with the plan to blow it up.
“There were bombs and blasts and flashes and explosions close to us. They were very loud and everything, including an electricity station five kilometres away, was shaking.
“It is a very resilient country. My uncle is a soldier and a veteran of war. Yet he says he will only stop fighting when Ukraine wins or he dies.”
In peaceful times, Thomas grew up on his family’s animal sanctuary with large animals and 33 cats and dogs. That was where he developed a love of animals which resulted in him switching his studies to veterinary medicine when he arrived in the UK.
Before gaining a place at UCLan he had to compete an Access to Higher Education Diploma and become fluent in English.
He has just finished his first year and hopes to one day to work in a VetPartners practice.
“Animals are kind and I feel I need to be there for them,” he says.
“I’m surprised at how well the vet practices are run here in the UK. I love my course. It is very tough because it is very intense, but I passed all my first year exams. The tutors are lovely and share their knowledge and passion for the profession.
“I want to say a big thank you to VetPartners for their support because no one has ever, ever helped me that much.”
For more information and how to apply for a VetPartners bursary, please visit https://www.vetpartners.co.uk/student-sponsorship-form/
For media enquiries, please contact Amanda Little, VetPartners PR and Communications Director at amanda.little@vetpartners.co.uk or 07970 198492