HSBC launch Facebook search to find visionary students

HSBC has launched a search to find the UK's most visionary students and is offering them the chance to win one of four £15,000 bursaries.

The HSBC Student Bursary competition, which is open to all students starting their first year of university, is hosted on the social networking site, Facebook. All students wanting to take part have to do is upload a 90 second video to the competition page which answers the question, "How would £15,000 at university help you make your mark on the world?".

Matt Nguyen, HSBC's Youth and Student Segment Manager said: "Going to university is a time of discovery and we wanted to help students with a real vision for their futures the opportunity to realise their full potential. This is the third year we have run the competition and we are delighted to be offering twice the number of bursaries this year. By using Facebook, we hope to reach as many students as possible and give them the opportunity to win a bursary which could transform their university experience."

The top 20 videos, as voted by the public on Facebook, will then be short-listed and the final eight winners will be decided upon by a panel of judges including:

Usman Ali - Vice President , NUS
Emerson Osmond - Commercial Manager, YouGoFurther.co.uk by UCAS
Joe Garner - UK General Manager, HSBC
Claudia Titley - HSBC Student Bursary 2009 Winner
Sam Williams - HSBC Student Bursary 2009 Winner

Claudia Titley, an HSBC student bursary winner from 2009, is now studying Architecture at Portsmouth University. In her entry she explained that having grown up in Africa, she had seen first hand the importance of affordable, sustainable housing. She won one of the bursaries because of her passion for her subject area and commitment to using her time at university to benefit others.

Commenting on how the bursary has helped her during her first year, Claudia said: "Winning an HSBC Student Bursary has made a huge difference to my experience at university and means I can focus on doing the best I can in my studies. When I graduate I'd really like to work with Article25, which is an architectural charity that believes that shelter and housing are a basic human right".

Earlier this year, Claudia visited South Africa working with underprivileged township children as part of the charity SOS Africa's educational work.