Your chance to win a pretigious photography award and cash prize of £5,000. With an overall prize fund up to £20,000, winners and commended entrants will have their work showcased in a national touring exhibition and stunning book.
The British Wildlife Photography Awards were established to recognise the talents of wildlife photographers of all nationalities practising in Britain, whilst at the same time highlighting the great wealth and diversity of Britain’s natural history.
The driving motivation to set up the Awards evolved through the nation’s growing awareness of the local environment and the need for its protection.
Now in its fourth year, this highly acclaimed and unique wildlife photography competition has captivated the nation with outstanding and beautiful imagery. It is a celebration of British wildlife as well as a showcase for nature photographers, both amateur and professional.
Categories http://www.bwpawards.org/categories
With twelve separate categories the subject matter covers everything from marine life and animal behaviour to creepy crawlies and urban wildlife.
Wildlife in HD sponsored by Sky+HD
http://www.bwpawards.org/page/hd_video
This special new Award for HD Video will be awarded to the most inspirational and dynamic film, which clearly illustrates the unique power of moving images as a medium for capturing British Wildlife.
Wild Woods
This brand new category is sponsored by VisitWoods.org.uk. The judges will be looking for a winning image that celebrates the beauty and importance of British woodland. Entries could be portraits of woodland wildlife, breathtaking wooded landscapes, seasonal scenes, intricate details of plants or show the relationships between species and habitats that occur within our woods and forests.
The Young People’s Award – WildPix
http://www.bwpawards.org/wildpix
RSPB Wildlife Explorers are sponsoring the ‘Young People’s Award’ this year enabling the competition to be available to all young people including members of Wildlife Explorers. Entry is free for this Award.
Awards and Prizes
With a prize fund of up to £20,000 and the overall winner receiving a cash prize of £5,000, the images receiving judges’ commendations will form part of a series of nationwide exhibitions. Winners and commended entries will also be featured in the coffee table book British Wildlife Photography Awards Collection 3, published by AA Publishing.
The Awards ceremony and launch of the traveling exhibition will take place at the prestigious Mall Galleries, in London. www.mallgalleries.org.uk
Overall Winner, British Wildlife Photographer £5,000
All Category winners will receive photographic products or similar - value £1,000
The Young People’s Awards
There are two special awards to encourage participation by young people.
These are free to enter.
Young British Wildlife Photographer (Up to 11) £300
Young British Wildlife Photographer (12 - 18) £500
Dates
The competition will be open for entries on 1st February 2012. The closing date is 12th of May 2012. Entrants will be able to submit entries on-line or via post.
Sponsors and Supporters
The competition is sponsored by: Sky+HD, Canon, The Wildlife Trusts, WWF, RSPB Wildlife Explorers, Countryside Council for Wales, VisitWoods.org.uk, Buglife, Genesis Imaging, Countryside Jobs Service, Sparsholt College Hampshire and Outdoor Photography Magazine.
Supported by: AA Publishing, Natural England, The National Trust, National Trust for Scotland, YHA and Wildlife Extra.
The Judging Panel
Neil Aldridge - Conservation Photojournalist, Greg Armfield - Film and Photography Manager WWF, David Fidler - Account Manager, Canon, Danny Green - Photographer, Sue Herdman - Magazine Editor National Trust Magazine, Stephen Moss - Naturalist and TV Producer, Andy Rouse - Wildlife Photographer, Diane Smyth - Deputy Editor British Journal of Photography, Christina Vaughan - Managing Director Image Source, Steve Watkins - Editor Outdoor Photography Magazine, Paul Wilkinson - Head of Living Landscape, The Wildlife Trusts, Mark Ward - Editor Birds Magazine / RSPB, David Watchus - Publisher AA Publishing.
Exhibitions
The exhibition will travel around the UK. Including the following venues: Mall Galleries (London), Nunnington Hall (Yorkshire), Moors Valley Country Park (Dorset) Nature in Art (Gloucester) and Luton Museum. The full schedule to be confirmed.
Further Information
For more detailed information about the competition, including how to enter, a full description of categories, shooting tips, and terms & conditions, please visit the competition website: http://www.bwpawards.org
Photographs: Young pinemartin by Terry Whittaker, Red Kite by Mark Smith
Campaigns & Issues
Councils’ care home policy may cost families £millions a year, says charity
Thousands of families in England may be paying councils millions of pounds a year for care home places that should be free, according to a report by older people’s charity Independent Age.
The families are having to ‘top-up’ their elderly relatives’ care home fees because some councils refuse to pay the full market cost themselves. Councils are required to provide an appropriate care home place to elderly people with few assets but the maximum rate they will pay in England is on average £45 a week, compared to an average real cost of £524.
News
Inflation falls for all age groups, although elderly still hit hardest
- The latest figures from the Alliance Trust Economic Research Centre show that all households experienced a decline in their inflation rates in April
- Despite this, it is still the elderly households which face the highest rate of inflation
- The over 75 year old households face an inflation rate of 3.6% and although this is the lowest level since October 2010, it is still higher than the official rate of inflation
- The 30-49 year olds, once again, have the lowest rate of inflation at 3.0%. This is the lowest level recorded for this age group since November 2009
- Gas price inflation remains elevated at 15%, which continues to affect the elderly households disproportionately
Competitions & Fun
Win a pair of tickets to South Pacific
This breathtaking and lavish Lincoln Center Theatre production reinvented Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical.
It swept the 2008 Tony Awards, played for two years to sold-out houses on Broadway and was televised across America.
Reader Offers
You could win one of three superb weekend breaks in Silver Travel Advisor’s “Best of British” Diamond Jubilee celebration this month
Silver Travel Advisor is a friendly website packed with advice, tips, information and honest reviews written by and for silver travellers (aged over 50).
A team of advisors are on hand to answer queries (for free), and you can share your own experiences too.
It’s time to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee this month with an amazing British prize draw:
Win a two night stay for two people at Flackley Ash Hotel , Rye, East Sussex
Health & Wellbeing
Patients to benefit from better advice on pain control
New guidance for doctors and other prescribers on the use of strong painkillers for patients with chronic or incurable disease has been welcomed by researchers at the University of Leeds.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is today (23 May) launching a new clinical guideline on the safe use of opioids – a family of drugs derived from the opium poppy that have been identified by the World Health Organization as essential in the treatment of severe pain. The new NICE guideline should help ensure that when patients receiving palliative care for chronic or incurable illnesses start treatment with strong opiods, the drugs are prescribed safely and consistently..
Property & Finance
Older people need specialist housing
Britain’s housing market is failing to meet the needs of the elderly, despite a rapidly-ageing population and a growing demand for retirement housing, a charity has warned. Housing charity Shelter has found that if demand remains at current levels supply would have to increase by over 70 per cent in the next 20 years in order to keep up.
The report explored the housing options available to those over 55 - a group that will make up one in three people in England by 2030.
Lifestyle
Learn how the internet can make life easier for you
Stocking up on the heavy grocery essentials was a full day out for Sheila, age 82. “I could see the advantages of doing the supermarket shop on the internet: having the groceries delivered, saving the taxi fare and not relying on others to shop for me if I’m ill,” said Sheila.
“But although I used the internet for emails, I didn’t really enjoy or trust it. My daughter suggested that Pearson Love to Learn’s Internet Basics online course might give me confidence and when she offered to try it out with me, I decided to give it a go.
Travel & Leisure
New sat-nav for older people
There could be a new solution for the increasing number of elderly drivers in Britain who are driven round the bend by complicated sat-nav devices. Scientists are developing a new satellite navigation system - dubbed the Granny-Nav - to help technophobic pensioners. The new device, which tells pensioners to turn at a specific point, such as a pub and not in a certain distance, is being hailed as a new way to keep the elderly as independent as possible.
Have you noticed that that those advocating rises in pension levels to absurd levels like this are all very much younger and have no experience of the ageing process?