YOUNG performers at a North Yorkshire dance school are set to benefit from a scholarship set up in memory of a North Yorkshire woman with a passion for the arts.

Devoted wife and mother Diane Shipley died from cancer in August 2001 at the age of 41.

Her family have set up the scholarship at the Kirkham Henry School of Performing Arts in Malton to give financial help to a promising young dancer each year.

The first dancer to benefit is 13-year-old Danielle Brown, from Pickering.

Diane's two daughters Chloe and Kirstie go to the school.

Her husband, Barrie, of Haxby, York, said: "When Diane died last year it was one of the first things we wanted to do in her memory.

"The scholarship is for the person at the centre who has got a lot of ambition and talent. It's to encourage someone who has got that ability."

Barrie said that Diane, who grew up in Norton, had always enjoyed performing.

"She used to be in the pantomimes in Malton when she was a kid, but she was always interested in the stage."

Ali Kirkham, who performed with Diane in several pantomimes, said the scholarship was a lovely way to remember her by.

"It's a fantastic idea," she said. "It keeps her in everyone's memory and then of course there are the children who are going to benefit from it.

"Diane and I met at school, and we really became friends at the local amateur operatics society.

"We did all the shows together right up until we left school, and then we stayed really good friends."

The scholarship will be funded each year by Barrie and his family.

Updated: 12:06 Wednesday, September 18, 2002