Students' delight as Kylie hands out awards (From Oxford Mail)

Students' delight as Kylie hands out awards

6:42pm Thursday 25th February 2010 in News By Ben Ellery

SUPERSTAR Kylie Minogue got the village of East Hendred spinning around today when she visited a local charity.

The 41-year-old pop singer dropped into the headquarters of the Studyvox Foundation, in Old Estate Yard.

Dressed in black, the Australian songstress, who has sold more than 60 million records, handed out £16,000 to students to help with their study fees.

The excited recipients, who were picked at random from the student social networking site Studyvox, got to chat to the singer and get her autograph.

Miss Minogue, who is patron of the charity, said: “I’m very proud to be here and it’s a very exciting day for all of us.

“We’ve all been students and all know what difficulties they face.

“Thanks to these generous bursaries it will be a great relief from the financial stresses and pressures.”

Film studies student Jessie Gurr, 22, picked up the top £10,000 prize.

The London Metropolitan University student said: “Kylie really put me at ease and was so nice. We met her before the ceremony and she asked us what we study.

“She is absolutely beautiful in real life, and very tiny.

“The money means so much to me, especially as I’ve never won so much as a box of chocolates in a raffle.”

Political Science student Fern Tomlinson, 19, received £2,000 towards her Birmingham University fees.

She said: “This has been so surreal and incredibly exciting.

“It was fantastic meeting Kylie. I’m a massive fan of her music and loved her when she was in Dr Who.”

Miss Minogue also presented a music award to the band with the most requests on the Studyvox website.

She said: “Music has been an enormous part of my life and I’m especially proud to present the music award, which offers an important lifeline for student bands.”

Emma McGann, 19, lead singer with the as-yet unnamed band, said: “It was unbelievable meeting Kylie. This time last week I had no idea I would be meeting the Queen of Pop.”

Miss Minogue became involved with the charity through her friendship with chief executive Kevin Martin.

During the ceremony she asked trustee Jack Lowman for £10, after he welched on a bet he lost to Miss Minogue during a game of pool at the headquarters in December.

He said: “It’s incredible having a world superstar like Kylie visit this small village, and we’re incredibly grateful for her appearance.”