Ryder Bursary 2025 Winner
Since being introduced in 1995, the Ryder Bursary has invested over £600,000 to support students. Urban design trainee Bea Chivers, our 2025 winner, reflects on her experience to date at Ryder and what’s next.
After the whirlwind that was the Covid 19 pandemic, and knowing my strong passions lay in the arts, my dad’s inspiring stories of the fast paced, ever changing built environment made me realise a career in the built environment aligned nicely with my humanitarian nature. In 2021, I made the move from sunny Essex to Newcastle and began my further education journey at Northumbria University.
Transitioning from full time work to a partially online course was challenging, and I sought alternative routes into the architecture industry. Susan Dawson, my tutor at the time, suggested I look into PlanBEE, a higher apprenticeship programme. After two years and six placements, I gained an abundance of exposure to different ways of working. In 2023 I started my third placement at Ryder where I worked closely with the placemaking team. Participating in community engagement events was a very rewarding process and it gave me a sense of pride being apart of projects which was giving a voice to residents. I landed back in Mark Clasper’s team for the second time in 2024 where I was able to focus my passions on a future as an urban designer.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, money is often the gateway to a higher education and growing up in a family with five siblings under one roof, it was few and far between. As the first in my family to go through the university process, the experience was daunting – with not having a precedent to follow and then to add financial implications on top, I had to be head strong in knowing it would all pay off. This is why, when I had the opportunity to apply for the bursary, I couldn’t even imagine the privilege of receiving it – not only for the financial aid, but for the mentorship and the trust Ryder has instilled in my future. It really has empowered me to continue on the path I have set for myself.
The numerous Q&A sessions set up to support the applicants led to many inspiring conversations, but the focus – which echoed throughout my research – was to investigate a topic you are truly passionate about and that ‘if you haven’t experienced it, you can’t design for it’. I think that is the beauty of engagement – as design, through no intention of the designer, can become bias at times. I knew I had the tools to connect with the very real issues of fuel poverty, food security and the barriers communities face when reaching out to local authorities. My research commits to identifying systemic gaps that hinder a just transition, and to exploring how participatory methods can help shape actionable themes to ensure no one is left behind.
I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who helped me along the way, from moral support to in-depth conversations about research. I am looking forward to continuing my master’s in urban design at Newcastle University in September and hope qualifying will lead me onto becoming a recognised member of the Urban Design Group. In the future, I see myself exploring opportunities to work further afield and bringing those experiences back to Ryder – expanding our network of knowledge and helping to continually improve the quality of the world around us and, in doing so, improve people’s lives.