Kirsty received an award from the RAB Trust during her first year of studies at Merton College; her project then was to make a violin based on the Stradivari "Le Messie" which she had looked at in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Kirsty was awarded two thumb planes from the collection of the late Dietrich Kessler and a placement with Juliet Barker in her Cambridge studio.  She writes of her award:

“I am deeply grateful for the award I received from the RAB Trust. The gift of the thumb planes has helped me immeasurably in the progress of my practical work and I feel very privileged to now have them.”

  “The time I spent at Juliet Barker’s workshop in Cambridge was incredibly valuable for my own learning and development. I am very grateful to both the tutors and students alike who were incredibly generous with their time and most welcoming of my frequent observation, note-taking and questions. The work undertaken by the students during the week was so wide ranging that it enabled me to absorb a variety of knowledge, skills and techniques. I therefore cannot begin to express my deepest thanks to the RAB Trust for arranging this placement and to Juliet and her team for their hospitality.”

In 2011 she received a further award, of funding for tools for set-up and further tools from the collection of the late Dietrich Kessler.