BEST RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING AWARDS 2014 NOW OPEN FOR ENTRY The UK's most prestigious prizes for religious broadcasting, the Sandford St Martin Trust Awards, have opened for entry. Presented each year at Lambeth Palace, the awards recognise excellence in programme-making across television, radio and new media. Those honoured in recent years have included the former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, David Suchet, former Archbishop Rowan Williams, Melvyn Bragg, Ian Hislop, Rageh Omaar, Howard Jacobson, Sir Mark Tully, Simon Schama and Anna Magnusson. Winning TV programmes have ranged from The Nativity’ and ‘The Life of Muhammad’ to ‘A History of Christianity’ and ‘Rev’, while radio winners have included 'Resurrection Stories' and 'Faith and 9/11'. Together with the Radio Times, the Trust also sponsors an award for a programme judged the best of the year by readers of the Radio Times themselves. In 2013 they voted David Suchet’s pilgrimage ‘In the Footsteps of St Paul’ the winner. The Trustees also make their own award for excellence, this year recognising the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games for placing the role of religion so centrally in public life. Trustees may also give a personal award to an individual who has made a significant contribution to religious broadcasting. This year this award went to Lord Sacks, retiring Chief Rabbi, for promoting religious debate in programmes ranging from his Reith Lectures to his regular Thought for the Day talks. The radio and television awards, now in their 36th year, are judged by expert panels. In 2014 they will be chaired by broadcaster and presenter Edward Stourton (television), and by author Patrick Gale (radio). Entries for the 2014 awards (for programmes broadcast between 1 February 2013 and 31 January 2014) can be submitted until Friday 7 February 2014. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 3 June at Lambeth Palace, London. The Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Bradford and Chair of the Sandford St Martin Trust, said: “Excellent religious broadcasting matters and the Sandford St Martin Trust Awards are unique in rewarding programming that grapples with religious, ethical and moral concerns across all faiths. Religion not only shapes how communities organise, but is integral to any understanding of why people are who they are and what motivates them to act in the way that they do.’ This year’s double winner, David Suchet, took both the Radio Times Readers’ Award and the Trust’s Premier TV Award for his programme, ‘In the Footsteps of St Paul’, made for BBC One. The winner of the Trust’s Premier Radio Award was ‘Hearing Ragas’ on BBC Radio 4, which told violinist Professor Paul Robertson's remarkable story of the Indian ragas he heard from within a coma, and the healing effect on him of the late Sir John Tavener's music. Ends For more information, contact: Julia Lewis 07730 499144 (mobile) Email [email protected] Notes to editors 1. The following awards are now open to entry: • Sandford St Martin Trust Television Awards (Premier and Runner-up) • Sandford St Martin Trust Radio Awards (Premier and Runner-up) • Best entry from a local/community station or online source • The Radio Times Readers’ Award Entries for the 2014 awards must have been broadcast between 1 February 2013 and 31 January 2014. The deadline for entries is Friday 7 February 2014. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 3 June at Lambeth Palace, London. There are separate judging panels for the radio and television awards. The Radio Times Readers’ Award is decided by readers voting for their favourite television programme from a shortlist published in the magazine. The Trustees’ Award is decided by trustees of the Sandford St Martin Trust. This award recognises a piece of work on broadcast, electronic or social media that trustees consider has done most in the previous year to raise the profile of religion in broadcasting. In some years trustees also make a Personal Award to an individual who has made a significant contribution to religious broadcasting. In total, prize money of around £8,000 is awarded as follows: • £2,000 for each of the winning programmes in the TV and Radio categories • £1,500 for each of the runners-up in the TV and Radio categories • £1,000 for the best entry from a local/community station or online source 2. Entry forms and full criteria for the awards are available on the website: http://www.sandfordawards.org.uk/ 3. The Sandford St Martin Trust is an independent non-profit organisation registered as a charitable trust in the UK. It seeks to promote excellence in religious broadcasting. It is politically independent and is not affiliated with any media company. The Trust engages with a wide range of media organisations and individual journalists, filmmakers, broadcasters and other media figures, many of whom give their time and expertise voluntarily to support the Trust’s work. The Trust believes the media can be a powerful tool to increase understanding of different perspectives and beliefs in our world, helping create greater understanding, tolerance and thoughtfulness. More information about the Sandford St Martin Trust, and the awards, is available at: http://www.sandfordawards.org.uk/ 4. Previous winners and people honoured by the Sandford St Martin Trust: The former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks was presented with the Sandford St Martin Trustees’ Personal Award in 2013 “for his advocacy of Judaism and religion in general, in programmes ranging from the 1990 Reith Lectures to Radio 4's 'Thought for the Day'”. http://www.sandfordawards.org.uk/main.php?s=5&p=10 The former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams was recognised in the 2013 Awards for ‘Goodbye to Canterbury’ on BBC Two. “In a unique personal perspective, the Archbishop deciphered the living rituals, the art and architecture and the symbolism of Canterbury Cathedral.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pm9z6 David Suchet won the Trust’s Premier TV Award and the Radio Times Readers’ Award in 2013 with ‘David Suchet: In the Footsteps of St Paul’ on BBC One, his two-part documentary exploring St Paul’s influence over the development of early Christianity. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pq9hc Rageh Omaar’s ‘The Life of Muhammad’ won the Trust’s Premier TV Award in 2012. The three-part series on BBC Two charted the life of the “man who - for the billion and half Muslims across the globe - is the messenger and final prophet of God”. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012mkg5 Melvyn Bragg was recognised in the 2012 Awards for ‘The King James Bible: The Book that Changed the World’ on BBC Two, a documentary marking the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zmc6f Ian Hislop was recognised in the 2012 Awards for his documentary ‘Ian Hislop: When Bankers Were Good’ on BBC Two, about “the Victorian financiers whose spectacular philanthropy showed that banking wasn't always associated with greed or self-serving financial recklessness”. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017nf4k 'Resurrection Stories' BBC Scotland won the Trust's Premier Award for Radio in 2012. Anna Magnusson explored the Gospel stories telling of Jesus' mysterious appearances after his crucifixion, in a search to understand her own experiences of loss and hope. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010fk44 'Faith and 9/11' on BBC Radio 2 was recognised in the Trust's 2012 Awards. The programme was "a reflective anthology which considered the impact of 9/11, ten years after events in Manhattan stopped the world in its tracks." With music from across the genres, it combined personal reflections with news archive. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0147v1y ‘The Nativity’ won the Trust’s Premier TV Award in 2011. The four-part drama on BBC One, written and produced by Tony Jordan, revealed “the human story beneath the classic biblical tale, from the courtship of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth to the birth of Jesus in a Bethlehem stable.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x1699 ‘Rev’, the BBC Two sitcom about a vicar running a modern inner-city church, with a reluctant wife and a depleted, motley congregation, was recognised in the Trust’s 2011 Awards. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sz26s 'King James Bible Readings' won the Trust's Premier Award for Radio in 2011. To mark its 400th anniversary, BBC Radio 4 broadcast readings throughout the day from the King James Bible and essays to celebrate its language, imagery, poetry and storytelling. The first collection was introduced by the historian Simon Schama. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x8f2d ‘The Bible: A History, Episode 1, Creation’, presented by Howard Jacobson, won the Trust’s Premier TV Award in 2010. The Channel 4 series explored the origins, ideas and influence of seven sections of the Scriptures. Each episode was presented by a prominent figure with a particular interest relevant to that part of the Bible. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-bible-a-history/episode-guide ‘A History of Christianity’ on BBC Four was recognised in the Trust’s 2010 Awards. In the six-part series, Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, one of the world's leading historians, revealed the origins of Christianity and explored what it means to be a Christian. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ntrqh 'Something Understood: Hospitality' on BBC Radio 4 was recognised in the Trust's 2010 Awards. For Palm Sunday, Mark Tully explored the deeper spiritual meaning of hospitality, with Jean Vanier, founder of the L'Arche community for adults with learning disabilities. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jgzjn .