Twenty-one bursaries awarded in second round of 2019

The second round of the Journalism Diversity Fund in 2019 has concluded with the awarding of 21 bursaries.

These aspiring journalists were awarded funding to begin their journalism training at NCTJ-accredited courses in the 2019-20 academic year, and bursaries can help fund their course fees and/or living expenses.

Twenty-nine shortlisted candidates were interviews at Bloomberg in London on Thursday, 25 and Friday, 26 July. The interview panels included senior managers and editors from the NCTJ, BCOMS, Bloomberg, Cision, Financial Times, Google News Initiative, Sky News, The Telegraph, The Thomas Read bursary and Twitter.

Bursaries were awarded to:

Aisha Awan
Thomas Beattie
Zayneb Benyoucef
Naina Bhardwaj
Christopher Bradford
Lucille Adutwum Brobbey
Sarah Burgess
Katharine Gemmell
Rakhee Gogna
Louise Hall
Ryan Hesketh
Bree Johnson
Fanelesibonge “Sammy” Mngqosini
Sheyma Mukhtar
Poppie Platt
Kate Pounds
Jacqueline Shepherd
Anetha Sivananthan
Alice Reeves-Turner
Callum Warren
Bradley Young

At their interviews, the candidates were questioned on their passion for journalism, financial need and diversity.

The fund was set up in 2005 with a donation of £100,000 from NLA media access, with the aim of encouraging more diverse people to train as journalists and making newsrooms better reflect the communities they serve.

Thanks to the financial support of the industry, we have now awarded 333 bursaries since 2005.

Applications are open for the third round of 2019, with a deadline of Wednesday, 7 August.

For further information, please contact journalismdiversityfund@nctj.com or call 01799 544014.