Journalism Diversity Fund Alumni Win NCTJ Awards for Excellence
Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 14:59 
News reaches the NLA that two former Journalism Diversity Fund (JDF) recipients have recently won NCTJ Awards for Excellence. The awards recognise and reward the best journalism students completing NCTJ accredited courses with less than two years in employment.
George Gigney, now at Boxing News magazine, was named as Student Journalist of the Year having achieved the best exam results for the 2014/15 academic year. George completed his NCTJ Diploma in Journalism this year. He said:
“Simply put, without the JDF I wouldn’t have done the NTCJ diploma and my career aspirations would have been seriously hampered. The JDF putting their faith in me was a huge compliment … Winning the NCTJ student journalist of the year award seems the right way of paying the JDF back and I’m hugely proud of it.”
Sophie Mei Lan Slack, a JDF alumnus from 2012, won Multimedia Campaign of the Year for her campaign ThankYouNHS. BBC trainee Sophie’s campaign was highly commended by the judges for its use of social media, video, images and even poetry. This is the second time that Sophie has won an award following her Scoop of the Year award at the 2013 NCTJ Awards. She said:
“I wouldn’t have got into journalism properly if it hadn’t been for the Journalism Diversity Fund. I love journalism … but it’s hard to get very far without an NCTJ diploma behind you. The JDF gave me the chance to have the support and the money to get my diploma and MA at University of Salford.”
The success of George and Sophie highlights the important work of the JDF in encouraging the next generation of journalists to the profession. This year, NLA media access celebrated the 10th anniversary of supporting the JDF and continues to be a proud sponsor of the graduates of the fund. The NLA has donated over £1 million since 2005 helping those without the financial means to attend NCTJ-accredited journalism courses and kick start their careers.
Read more about the NCTJ Awards of Excellence here.
This week the total number of bursaries awarded by the Journalism Diversity Fund reached 200 as four up-and-coming journalists get ready to begin their training in 2016.