Two Barbadians among Chevening 16

Two ambitious young professionals from Barbados are among the 16 Caribbean recipients of this year’s prestigious Chevening Scholarship, awarded by the UK government to outstanding individuals around the world who have demonstrated leadership potential and a strong vision for the future.

Communications Specialist Khrystal Walcott and attorney-at-Law Martie Garnes will begin their postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom this September, each fuelled by personal passion, a deep sense of purpose, and a desire to drive meaningful change at home and abroad.

For Walcott, the life-changing news came during a special moment in her personal life—a birthday trip to Guatemala in June.

She told Barbados TODAY, “I was actually in Guatemala, and they usually announce it in June. It was my birthday trip, and I was trying not to check my emails because obviously I was there in mid-June and my birthday was the 15th,” she recalled. “I got the email, I think it was the 19th, at my time it was like 5 o’clock in the morning and I was doing my makeup and my Apple Watch just went off, and I scrolled and I saw it, and I was having a heart attack.”

The moment was so overwhelming that she immediately had to share the news with her loved ones.

“I had to call my parents and we had a whole conference call, but it was the best feeling in the world because I always wanted the scholarship, but I was really too scared to apply. Until like last year I was like ‘Ok, Khrystal, get it together’.”

Walcott, whose experience includes being a consultant at the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), as well as being a youth advocate with the Childhood Obesity Prevention (COP) Programme of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados, will pursue a Master of Arts in Media, Campaigning and Social Change at the University of Westminster—a programme that aligns perfectly with her career focus on using communication as a tool for public health advocacy, behavioural change, and inclusion.

“It means that I am now able to go and study and contribute to communications in a more meaningful space,” she explained.

“About two years ago, I kind of decided that it was time to lock in looking at communications for behaviour change, because it really is a powerful tool, and that’s how I got involved in health, public health, and advocacy.”

She envisions using the opportunity not just to gain academic knowledge, but to immerse herself in the real-world strategies used by NGOs, public health agencies, and advocacy organisations in the UK.

“I’m able to go down there, volunteer, see what other nonprofits and charities do, get fully immersed in different areas on my programme because it’s not just media, it’s campaigning,” she said.

“I really learned a lot about campaigning over the past two years… so I am excited because my goal ultimately is to execute campaigns that contribute to behaviour change and social change.”

Her interests lie at the intersection of health, disaster management, and the inclusion of persons with disabilities— areas she hopes to integrate in future outreach initiatives, both in Barbados and regionally.

“Honestly, what I want to do is go with an empty brain where I am more open to new experiences [looking to find out] how can I soak up information that, should I decide to come back and start my own organisation, how can I contribute positively using any information that I would have gained?

“I’m really excited to connect with the other scholars, not just across the region but across the globe, because they’re doing a lot of, a lot of meaningful work in different areas.”

For Garnes, a practising criminal defence attorney, the moment he received his acceptance email was a surreal one, but in his view, a culmination of years of professional dedication and personal ambition.

“When I first found out that I won the scholarship, I was truly ecstatic, could not believe it at one point in time, but at the same time, it was reflective,” he said. “You realise that you’ve done all this hard work for the past five years as an attorney, and now it is that you’ve finally gotten your opportunity to make that next step.”

That next step involves a year of advanced study at Queen Mary University of London, where Garnes will pursue an LLM in Criminal Justice. The focus of the programme — comparative criminal justice and reform — directly ties into his long-standing mission to contribute to legal reform in Barbados and the wider Caribbean.

“Part of this means that I will be in London for an entire year; I won’t come back to Barbados until September 2026,” he shared.

But Garnes sees this move as far more than a temporary academic journey. To him, being selected as a Chevening Scholar is validation of his potential to influence real change on a global scale.

“Personally, to be part of a scholarship that is as prestigious as Chevening means a lot to me, because remember Chevening is about looking at persons with leadership ability and future leaders of the world,” he noted.

“The mere fact that I got it — in my mind it just signals an indication to me that I have the potential to go on to do great things, not only just in Barbados, but hopefully on a global stage.”

In addition to his legal practice, Garnes has long advocated for a more compassionate and rehabilitative approach to justice. He’s particularly drawn to issues such as prison reform, alternatives to incarceration, and international criminal defence.

“One of the things that I’m really interested in is revamping our criminal justice system in terms of assisting those in the criminal justice effort,” he said.

“I wanted to do a master’s in criminal law, but there’s no master’s in criminal law—the next step is criminal justice… [which is what] I’ll be studying at Queen Mary University of London.”

“My focus primarily would be on comparative criminal justice in terms of looking at various justice systems across the world and learning from professors who specialise in the area of criminal justice reform and also international criminal law.”

Garnes added, “I have a dream of appearing in front of the International Criminal Court representing the accused persons—that is considered to be the crème de la crème of a criminal defence attorney.”

Garnes expressed his greatest thanks to his mum and dad (Merline and Rohan Garnes), Andrew Pilgrim SC, Kaye Williams, Stefan Newton and Shaquille Newton, for their support in guiding him to this point.

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb