Big Lottery Fund (BIG) and national communications charity Media Trust, in partnership with the Thisis and localpeople community news sites run by Northcliffe Digital, have launched Communities in Focus, a photography competition to showcase inspiring images of people and communities from across the country.
Snapshots of local events such as Mousehole Christmas lights, Trereife Christmas Fair, ice skating at Truro's new skate rink, St Austell's celtic beer festival, or the Santa Fun Runs at Land's End, Padstow and Falmouth are all welcome.
You can capture street parties and farmers' markets to portraits of people making a difference, such as charity volunteers or the village choir, Communities in Focus is designed to showcase the brilliant people, groups and activities that are the life of our communities.
The competition, launched today, Wednesday 21 November, will run on the competition pages of all Thisis websites and on localpeople websites across England for four weeks.
There will be two categories in the competition: one for inspiring images of community life, and the other for photos of projects funded by the Big Lottery Fund making a positive difference to people and communities.
One winner will be selected from each category by a high profile judging panel, each winner will receive a new Canon D-SLR camera and two places on a photography training course supplied by Media Trust.
Entries to the competition must be submitted via Media Trust's Cam360, a new app and website specifically designed as a place to share and publish great images.
Simply register for free via the Cam360 website or download the Cam360 app from the App Store on your iPhone, select one of the two categories and submit your photo.
Gavin Sheppard Marketing Director at Media Trust said: "This competition is a fantastic opportunity for people to capture and share photographs of their community. There are so many great stories in our communities and a huge number of exciting and inspiring photographs to match; we can't wait to see them."
Dharmendra Kanani, Big Lottery Fund's England Director, said: "In tough times there couldn't be a better way of celebrating the good things that are alive and kicking in local communities. BIG has £1.5billion Lottery good-cause funding to invest in England between now and 2015. It is local people and communities that bring this money to life through their hard work, commitment and spirit to make a life-changing difference. This competition will enable a portrait of community good across England and create a legacy of how people and communities have done great things to improve their lives and help others with Lottery funding."
Lee Williams, executive director digital, Northcliffe Media, said: "Communities are at the heart of what we do. The communities we serve through our Thisis and localpeople websites already contribute heavily to the news and information we publish, supplying us with their photos and stories. Through this app and competition we hope to encourage yet more community content and look forward to showcasing some of the best entries as the competition progresses."
All entries must be supplied with a caption explaining when the photo was taken and why it illustrates what's brilliant about their community, or Big Lottery Fund project. Full details on how to enter are available at www.mediatrust.org/cam360.
Entries must be received by Wednesday 19 December.
To find Big Lottery Fund projects in your area, visit: www.biglotteryfundgrants.org.uk
