The eight winners of the 2012 Print Futures Awards, the annual grant scheme sponsored by Unite the Union, The Printing Charity and the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF), have been presented with cheques at the All-Party Parliamentary Print Group’s event at the House of Lords, London.
The awards, which are now in their ninth year, are of up to £1,500 each and can be given to people aged 16 to 30 years to help pay for tuition fees and other costs associated with part-time or full-time training courses for a job in the UK printing, publishing and graphic arts industries.
Kathy Woodward, chief executive of the BPIF, said: “With nearly one million young people unemployed, it is critical that industry demonstrates commitment to those seeking to work and encourages both hard work and entrepreneurialism.”
The winners of this year’s awards are:
Chanel Stracey: has just finished her first year of a BA(Hons)Graphic Design at Nottingham Trent University and has a twin sister doing exactly the same course at the same time at Nottingham. Chanel plans to become a top graphics designer and is currently enjoying discovering the delights of screen printing.
Jack Gardiner: has just finished the second year of a BA Graphic and Media Design at the London College of Communications. He has a particular interest in typography but, privately, admits he is smitten with printed products and has a compulsion to visit bookshops and stationers enjoying the feel of paper and the smell of the ink!
Jennifer Cannon: is a full time student at Leeds University studying for a BA in Design and Colour Technology. In October she begins a nine month placement with a leading branding and packaging company and her current focus is on the use of colour in packaging.
Jamie Barrett: comes from Dorset working as an apprentice machine minder with Epic Printing Services. He currently helps run a big six-colour Mitsubishi press and is training under the guidance of the BPIF.
Amy-Fern Nuttall: planning to become a graphic designer in the magazine publishing field Amy-Fern has a BA(Hons) in Photography from Edinburgh University but will now use her Print Futures Award to help fund re-training at Shillington College.
Lewis Kemp: is an apprentice print finisher with FRIP Finishing and operates a sophisticated spot UV gluer. He admits he struggled through school but has now found his feet and has committed to the printing industry. He would like to increase his knowledge of graphics generally.
Sophie Bowyer: another successful BA Design and Colour Technology student from Leeds University. Her passion for print began when she won two local ‘design an ad’ competitions. Now in third year of her course she will be able to fund a summer work placement and perhaps invest in a MacBook.
Jake Foulds: works for The Label Makers as an apprentice on a Xeikon digital press. Having opted for an apprenticeship rather than university Jake is planning external training courses to achieve his ambition – supervisor, then production manager!
To find out more about the Print Futures Awards go to www.printfuturesawards.com.