Co-op group awards MA students through writing competition

By UK Journalism

The Co-Operative group has handed out £1000 to UCLan MA Magazine students through a writing competition in conjunction with the Co-op News.

Students were invited to submit a 750-word feature to appear in the Co-op News magazine, which has an average readership of 8000, with a top prize of £500 for the winner and £100 each for five runners up.

Ali Horsfall won first prize with her story “Money is no object for Swap Shop shoppers” that looked into LETS communities where people trade through a points system instead of using legal tender.

She said: “This is the first story I have had published so I’m really pleased. The feature looks at alternative trading systems and currency and I came across the idea when researching into the Co-operative group ethos.”

The five runners up were Tara Hounslea, Alex Jackson, Laura Prescott, Martin Guttridge-Hewitt and Camilla Duncan. All of the winners were presented with their cheques by David Pownall, a member of the Co-operative Board of Directors.

National competition

He said: “I’m really pleased to be here to present students with their prizes. It has proven to be such a good idea that there is now a national competition with a £3000 first prize and publication of the winning article in The Independent.”

The competition was set up after MA Magazine tutor Maggie Henfield wrote to the Co-op regional committee regarding a bursary for the students. The group decided it would like its cash award to benefit several students instead of just one and the competition was set up.

The Co-op is all about ethical trading and had an annual turnover of £9.4bn in 2007. It is made up of businesses including The Co-operative Bank, The Co-operative Food and Co-op Welcome stores and Co-operative Insurance (CIS).

Dave Bowman, the Managing Editor of the Co-op News magazine said he was impressed by all of the students work.

High standard

“The standard of all of the efforts was very high and I want to congratulate all of the students on their efforts. Ali Horsfall compiled an interesting and informative piece on an aspect of the Co-operative that doesn’t always hit the headlines.”

The Head of the Department of Journalism, Mike Ward, thanked the group for sponsoring the competition.

He said: “We are delighted the Co-op has partnered with us. We hold our industry links dear and here we are with a huge organisation that has responded to a very local cause.”

Ali added: “I’m definitely going to enter the national competition and I feel this experience has been a real confidence booster. It has bridged the gap from being student to a real journalist.”

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MA Magazine Journalism
The Co-Operative

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Our print and broadcast courses are accredited by the The Broadcast Journalism Training Council and the National Council for the Training of Journalists. Our MA Magazine Journalism is accredited by the Periodicals Training Council.