National Parks New Perspectives scheme expanded – 10 x £1,000 bursaries up for grabs
28 October 2021
Campaign for National Parks (CNP) will double the number of bursaries in its new National Parks: New Perspectives scheme, thanks to a generous donation from a supporter.
The scheme, which opened for entries on 1 October, will now support ten young storytellers (aged 19-35) to share their stories of National Parks in England and Wales with a £1,000 grant each plus training and mentoring.
In keeping with the release of the National Parks and the Climate Emergency report and the Documenting Climate Change photography competition, the theme is People, Climate and Nature and stories must be fact-based and cover at least one National Park in England or Wales.
“National Parks are full of amazing stories,” added Tom Palmer, former BBC journalist and Director of Ocean City Media who have partnered with Campaign for National Parks to deliver the scheme. “We’re really excited to read the pitches and look forward to working with ten young people to share their stories. We’re after a journalistic style of story – but are open to ideas around medium, from film and the written word to audio and documentary photography. If you’ve got a story idea about National Parks, but need funding and support to develop it then this is the scheme for you!”
“We’ve already had a lot of interest in the scheme,” said CNP Chief Executive Rose O’Neill. “Almost 50 people signed up to our pre-application workshop earlier this month and we’ve had some strong applications submitted already, we want to give as many people as possible the chance to benefit from this unique opportunity and uncover a wealth of stories – especially as conversations ramp up around COP26.”
Funding for the initial five bursaries came from the Big Give‘s Green Match Fund (with match-funding from the John Spedan Lewis Foundation) earlier this year; and CNP has been able to double the size of the scheme thanks to an extra one-off donation from a longtime supporter. The application deadline has also been extended to Monday 15 November 2021.
Rose added: “As a small independent charity, we rely on support from individuals to enable us to campaign to protect and improve National Parks and are eternally grateful to all of our Friends and donors. We are very excited to be able to double the size of this scheme and look forward to reading your pitches!”
For more information, including full terms and conditions, or to apply, see HERE.
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