Writing Award In Memory Of UCLAN Mature Student

Aug, 2 2018

~When a person we cherish suddenly dies our natural desire is to create a memory of the legacy they have left behind.

Janet Mary Budd spent the latter part of her life studying scriptwriting from 2012- 2014. She became good friends with fellow student Ian Hornby as they developed plays, film scripts and even a book. Janet passed away in 2016 but an award set up in honour of her  contribution to the arts has been established.

Simply called The Janet Mary Budd New Writing Award. It has recently been awarded  by Sophie Amber Wells. Sophie is currently studying the same MA Scriptwriting that Janet completed and it was her poem  Voodoo Doll No More which helped her receive the coveted prize.

 Sophie had the following to say in her response to being selected and what it means to her personally,

“This award means a lot to me, especially as I’m a new writer, so it’s a great confidence boost. I’m a mature student myself and took a leap of faith to return to university to pursue my passion; winning this award confirms that I made the right decision. It’s a real honour to win an award in the name of another dedicated writer from the same course.”

Sophie received a commemorative plaque and £250 prize money. Second prize went to Sarah Rigby for her short story The Sands, and Peter Wilson came third with his story Water Wars are the Future.

Friend and fellow colleague Ian Hornby expressed these words on how Janet would have felt about the award and how Sophie has created  an inspiration to many with her poetic observations,

“Janet would be so pleased about this award as it sums her up completely. She was passionate about developing new writers and having come to university as a mature student, she embraced the course completely and loved every minute of it. “Sophie is a deserving winner and I was very moved by her poem. I hope this annual award inspires other writers to put pen to paper.”

Please visit www.uclan.ac.uk and follow the link to course enquiries and you could follow in the footsteps of both Janet, Ian and Sophie.

^Alex Ashworth.