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City College Journalist Wins Museums Bursary

20 January 2005

Thanks to new regional museum funding from government, an NCTJ magazine journalism student from City College Brighton and Hove will be writing news stories about some of the great museums and galleries in the South East. 24-year-old Emily Sands has won a £500 bursary as part of the Renaissance Student Journalism Network.

The new network is co-ordinated by the 24 Hour Museum and funding comes from the Renaissance in the Regions programme, run by the Museum Library and Archive council (MLA). The aim of Renaissance in the Regions is to get extra funding to regional museums and also to encourage more and more children and school groups into museums and galleries. The programme is the outcome of a Task Force set up in 2000 under then-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Chris Smith in response to people's growing concerns about the state of England's regional museums and galleries.

Emily recieves ber bursary from the 24 Hour Museum's David Prudames

Emily recieves ber bursary from the 24 Hour Museum's David Prudames

As part of her bursary Emily will work one day per week in a placement in a museum for six months. She will write news and feature stories about museums across the whole of the Southern region, from Kent in the East to Winchester in the west. Her work will appear on the 24 Hour Museum website, Britain's National Virtual Museum, as well as on 24 Hour Museum City Heritage Guides for Brighton and the rest of the South East region.

Emily is the first of 14 journalism students who are being selected nationally as part of the Renaissance Student Journalist Network. The students are 'embedded' in a work placement in a museum or gallery marketing office, where they'll be able to get the low-down on some of the great exhibitions and news stories that come out of cultural venues in the region. Emily will be very busy travelling around, meeting museum curators, seeing shows and covering a wide range of stories. She is clearly excited about the opportunities the bursary has given her:

'It's good that there are links between City College and the real world of journalism. I'm very interested in arts writing so this is a good chance to build up my portfolio and get some good experience.'

24 Hour Museum Editor Jon Pratty says:

'We hope our work with Emily will be a good way of really getting the word out about South East museums. The funding is also a vote of confidence for museums in our region, and the bursary is a tangible benefit of the Renaissance in the Regions Programme.'

The next Magazine Journalism course at City College is due to start in February and there are still a handful of places available to aspiring journalists.

For further information, please call Brian Bell, Marketing Communications Officer, on 01273 667788 Ext. 488 or email bb1@ccb.ac.uk

Notes to Editors: 24 Hour Museum (www.24hourmuseum.org.uk) is Britain's National Virtual Museum. It was set up in 1999 and is funded by the DCMS ? the Department for Culture, Media and Sport - through MLA ? the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The 24HM database contains information on over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage sites. The site currently attracts over 400,000 visitor sessions per month (average duration of visit 10 minutes). In a recent user survey over 85% of respondents said using the 24HM website had made them more likely to visit a museum or gallery.

About City College Brighton and Hove: Founded over 100 years ago, City College Brighton and Hove has become an international centre of excellence. Every year over 2000 full-time and 13,000 part time students as well as many international and European students choose City College as their education provider. Offering over 650 courses from basic level to pre-University level, City College is working with its partners to develop the workforce of the future.