A Tauranga university student with a love for classics and a man whose body was left crippled after an accident 30 years ago are part this year's 2015 Ray Dillon Scholarships.

Photo: file.

The annual scholarship from BayTrust of up to $5000 support those with significant disabilities undertaking tertiary educationto overcome challenges and achieve their academic goals.

Callum Hunter has loved studying classics and economics at Auckland University for the past two years, so it was an easy decision to add a Bachelor of Theology to his workload for 2015.

'I took a couple of courses last year and it was really enjoyable. It sits in well with classics in terms of history. I spend a lot of time studying the church under the early Roman Empire and I'm hoping to do Honours or maybe my Masters in it.”

The Tauranga 20 year-old will receive a $3000 Dillon Scholarship from BayTrust this year, having suffered his entire life from an unknown condition that affects his digestive system and other muscles.

'It fatigues you really quickly so you don't have a lot of energy by the end of the day. When I'm studying I have to be really careful not to get bogged down and take enough time out to rest and recuperate.”

Callum says receiving a Dillon Scholarship has eased the financial pressure and worry associated with studying fulltime. It will allow him to focus on university without the need to get a part-time job to support himself.

'That's huge because spending that sort of energy on working to live would have made uni undoable for me if I didn't have that financial help.”

Another Tauranga man finding peace of mind in the scholarships help is Ian Davis who in a motorcycle accident 30 years ago, had his whole world turned upside down.

The soccer-playing 24 year-old was planning to embark on his OE. Instead a crack in his pelvis left him virtually crippled when osteoarthritis set in. Side-effects from medication also led to heart failure some years later.

'I was over 90 per cent immobile. I couldn't walk. Lying on my back was painful. The severity was huge.”

After a heart operation and two hip replacements, he slowly began to recover and promised himself he was one day going to re-enter the workforce.

'I was a positive, happy person by nature and that helped me go through that experience and start recovery in a positive way. I also had a passion for helping people in a similar situation.”

In August 2007 Ian began working in the mental health field at the Bay of Plenty Community Homes Trust and subsequently gained a qualification. In 2011 he secured a job as the mental health coordinator for Whaioranga Trust – a Maori health and social service provider.

In 2012 he decided to further his skills by enrolling at Bethlehem Tertiary Institute to complete a Degree in Counselling. Now aged 57, Ian says the emotional, mental and physical journey he has been on gives him a great deal of empathy with other people.

This year he will receive a Dillon Scholarship from BayTrust to help continue his studies.

Ian says the money will help pay for expensive text books and cover his daily travel costs to school and to visit clients as part of his practicum experience.

'A Dillon Scholarship gives me peace of mind. Disabilities are always there but you don't need to drag it round like a ball and chain or to use it as an obstacle to stop achieving your own hopes and dreams.”