A-LEVEL student Jeffrey Wing Hon Chan has been awarded this year’s prestigious John Verney Award for his endeavours and achievements on the Art and Design course at Farnham Sixth Form College.Trustees John Reyersbach and Rosemary Thomas awarded Jeffrey his prize.

Sir John Verney was a local artist and activist who was one of the founders of the Farnham Maltings. A trust fund was set up in his name, following his death in 1993, and part of this money helps to support talented art students at Farnham Sixth Form College. Jeffrey is the 20th recipient of the award and the cheque he was presented with will help to support his continued studies in art, as he moves on to Bournemouth University to study animation.

Speaking of John Verney, John Reyersbach said “John was a man very much involved in Farnham life. He was a great supporter of young people, enjoyed the arts and was a talented painter”. He went on to say to Jeffrey “Now is the most productive time of your life. I hope you use this award to go on with your artistic work, purchase art materials and enjoy the benefits.”

Jeffrey’s spectrum of work included two distinct pieces focused on the themes of ‘concealment’ and ‘sub aqua’.

Through these pieces, Jeffrey clearly demonstrated how the skills he had learnt during the first year of the course had advanced, to develop a highly convincing and mature portfolio in his second year.

His tutor Julian Thompson commented “the drawing and painting skills that Jeffrey has learnt will be fundamental for his university studies”.