The Chevening scholarship is a prestigious scholarship for those students who wish to study in the UK. The scholarship gets its name from Chevening House; the country residence of the British Foreign Secretary. The scheme began in 1984 and is funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth office.
Click here to be taken to the British Council Kosovo page where you can find more information.
In the meantime I thought it would be beneficial to briefly talk about my experiences whilst studying in the UK. I completed by BA (Hons) History in 2009, graduating with a 2:1 from The University of East Anglia, more commonly known as UEA. UEA is situated in Norwich, Norfolk in England. Only 2 hours by train from central London and 2.30 hours from Nottingham in the Midlands it was far enough away from home but still close enough to enjoy London. UEA was my first choice university due to the best accommodation in the UK, the second best sporting facilities and one of the top 10 History schools in the country.
So why is studying in the UK so great?
The UK has a fine history of higher education with Oxford and Cambridge being amongst some of the oldest and world recognised universities in the world. However from 1960 onwards dozens of new universities were being built and began to operate. Now there are over 150 universities in the UK. Every year around 500,000 students enrol in university education. The education standards in the UK are matched with the reputation that studying in the UK carries.
However apart from the high standard of the courses on offer, studying in the UK also offers something equally as important; student life. I can remember my first “Icebreaker” weekend like it was yesterday even though it was over 4 years ago. Granted partying, drinking and general socialising is more than catered for but the ability to enrol in numerous societies, continue playing sports at university level and indeed signing up and trying new sports is of great importance. In fact I remember being part of:
- R.A.G (charity society) where I eventually held the position of Vice President
- Ultimate Frisbee – great new sport for me which allowed me to travel up and down the country representing my University at competitions.
- Real Ale Society – Norfolk and Suffolk had amazing local breweries.
- Poker Society.
- Caribbean society
- International Society – which proved a fantastic place to meet students from all around the world.
- Cocktail Society – a more sophisticated way to enjoy nights out.
- Cheese and Wine Society – different atmosphere to most student nights with wine tasting and opportunities for wine tasting trips to France.
- Beat Soc – for those who enjoy dub step and other related music.
… The list is endless. There are plenty of opportunities to engage in the student life. You’ll be guaranteed to find someone who shares similar interests. In all honesty I don’t have a negative thing to say about university life in the UK, well apart from having to live on a budget! Which, come on, students around the world have to abide by. Many people back home say that university is all about the experience, the people you meet and pursuing a life long interest in learning. And they are completely right. I have no regrets and will always look back at my three years at UEA as being some of, if not the best of my life so far.
So there you go, a brief insider’s insight to UK university life. Obviously there is always more to add about my experiences and that’s why you can comment on the post below or email me at Jamie.pickton@britishcouncil.org or jamiepickton@googlemail.com if you want to hear more…
Until then good luck with the scholarship applications and I truly hope that you will have an equally brilliant time as I did. I’m more than sure you will.
All the hard work paid off!
Jamie Pickton
Competition launch overseas
The competition will officially launch on 16 October 2010, and the closing date for applications will be Thursday 31st March 2011.
The British Council is once again joining with the BBC World Service to launch the International Radio Playwriting Competition 2011. The competition is now in its 22nd year and has been incredibly successful in enabling voices from around the world to be heard.
Criteria
The complete set of rules can be viewed by clicking here
* The competition is open to any writer who is not normally a resident of the United Kingdom.
* Entrants should write a radio play of approximately sixty minutes length on any subject of their choice. The finished script must be a minimum of 50 pages of A4 paper (or equivalent) and a maximum of 75 pages.
* The play must be written in English but can be translated by a third party (unfortunately assistance with translation costs cannot be offered).
* Translated work must be identified as such, and the translator must be credited.
Prizes
Once again, we have two first prizes: for the best play by a writer with English as their first language and for the best play by a writer with English as their second language.
These two winners will each receive £2500 sterling and a trip to London to see their play being recorded for broadcast on BBC World Service in the World Drama slot.
* £2500 sterling for the overall winning playwright of the best play written with English as a first language and a trip to London to see the play being recorded and to attend a prize-giving evening.
* £2500 sterling for the overall winning playwright of the best play written with English as a second language and a trip to London to see the play being recorded and to attend a prize giving evening.
* A prize of a digital or short wave radio for the best radio play to be written from each of the following geographical areas: The Americas; Europe; Africa and the Middle East; South Asia; Russia and the Caucasus; Asia and Pacific.
* BBC goodie bags for all writers whose plays reach the judges’ final shortlist.
Download application forms here.
Submissions and application forms can be emailed to radioplay@bbc.co.uk.
Local British Council offices globally are also listed as a point of call for applicants, and applicants can use local BC offices for information on the competition and to submit their application forms and plays.
Meet the Judges
Sally Cowling – Director of Drama and Dance, British Council
Responsible for the British Council’s global theatre and dance programme, Sally has worked as a dramaturg, theatre critic and theatre and dance producer for organisations in Norway, Greece, the United States and Britain. She has been a Senior Drama Officer for the Arts Council of England and sits on a number of advisory and award panels. Sally was awarded an MBE in 2005.
Vincent Ebrahim – Actor
Vincent was born in South Africa and trained at the University of Cape Town Drama School. He came to Britain in 1976 and has worked extensively in theatre, television and radio since. He is probably best known as Ashwin Kumar in The Kumar’s at No. 42 on BBC 2. Other television credits include: After You’ve Gone, The Lenny Henry Show and Holby City. His theatre credits include The Great Game-Afghanistan, Nathan The Wise, Ramayana, Credible Witness and Tartuffe. Vincent has appeared in numerous radio dramas for BBC World Service and domestic radio and was part of World Drama’s Writing Residency for 2nd language writers in 2003.
Kwame Kwei-Armah – Actor, playwright, singer and broadcaster
Kwame Kwei-Armah’s triptych of plays set in the African Caribbean community – Elmina’s Kitchen; Fix up and Statement of Regret – premiered at the National Theatre between 2003 and 2007. He has written and directed two successful productions of Let There Be Love for London’s Tricycle Theatre and his TV drama, Walter’s War, was screened by the BBC in remembrance of the first black commissioned officer in the First World War. Between 1994 and 2004 Kwame starred in the long-running BBC drama Casualty. He also sings.
Robin Lustig – Host of BBC World Drama and presenter of The World Tonight
Robin Lustig, one of the BBC’s most senior radio presenters, is host of BBC World Drama. He hosts Newshour on BBC World Service and The World Tonight for BBC Radio 4. He has extensive experience of covering major world events and has broadcast live programmes from around the world.
Gwyneth Williams – Director World Service English
Gwyneth Williams is responsible for the BBC’s international radio programmes. She was editor of the BBC Reith Lectures for many years and head of BBC Radio Current Affairs, making documentaries and programmes. She has published two books, one on Southern Africa and another on political organisations in the developing world. A self-confessed book worm, she loves World Book Club, broadcast each month on BBC World Service.
Marion Nancarrow – Executive Producer, BBC World Service Drama
Marion has produced and directed over 150 plays, readings, comedies, serials and drama-documentaries for the BBC, in many parts of the world. Her productions have won awards, including Sony Gold & Silver and the CRE Race in the Media Award. She says, “This competition is unique in the world and this is my favourite time of year, as scripts arrive from across the globe. You never know what story you’ll be told or whose world you’ll enter. I can’t wait to meet the winners, but I’m impressed by everyone who has entered – it’s an enormous achievement.”
Read about the winners of the 2008/09 competition here.
Good luck and let the writing commence…
Globally connected yet locally engaged.
Community work, voluntary sector and active citizenship are concepts that are mentioned time and time again. Everyone has participated or at least knows of someone who has participated in local, community projects or performed a bit of voluntary work themselves. I held the position of vice president for the University of East Anglia’s RAG (Raise and Give) charity society during my last year of my Bachelors. I managed to become involved in the third sector quite late in respect to my demographic. Furthermore the impact and importance to influence valid and sustainable change in a local community is not always fully understood or acknowledged. Many of us partake in voluntary work for the benefit of our resumes and forget about the real importance these activities play in local communities.
The British Council are taking a global approach to local community action. Globalisation allows communities to communicate with other communities elsewhere in the world with a view to personal interaction (physical exchanges), exchanging ideas and working on projects together. Through this global outlook, ideas, concepts and successful implementation techniques can be exchanged through the participating active citizens in numerous countries worldwide. Active citizens in Kosovo for instance can and will most probably benefit by liaising with fellow participants in the Balkan region and with their exchange community in the UK. Through learning and understanding the difficulties and process that third sector communities in the UK face, the communities (in Kosovo) can apply learned processes to remedy sustainable change in their Social Action Projects. The process and successful implementation of voluntary work and active citizens is perfectly summed up by Tom Broadhurst (British Council): “It’s about exchanging skills for taking direct action, about helping people help themselves.” Its about addressing the same or similar issues but in different settings. Here there needs to exist NO blanket policy for the execution of sustainable change.
An example of this was an SAP that managed to develop relations between communities in Derry (Northern Ireland), Addis Ababa (Nigeria), the Rift Valley and Kano (Nigeria). Here the problems surrounding “The Troubles” in N.I and the religious divides in Kano were addressed in relation to each other. Again the situation and projects are similar but different.
Active Citizenship is a form of literacy: (Council of Europe, Education for Democratic Citizenship, Dec 2004) coming to grips with occurrences in public life, developing knowledge, understanding, critical thinking and independent judgement of local situations and issues. It is about applying this knowledge and critical thinking to implement sustainable change.
Local projects can have a wider impact, but it’s vital to begin with the community you love and have a connection with. Only then will your projects and aims be able to be achieved. Remember action is louder than words: don’t just say it, do it. And who better to do it than The British Council who has over 75 years of cultural relations experience.
The British Council Kosovo will be launching their Active Citizens programme October 2010.
Jamie Pickton
Jamie.Pickton@britishcouncil.org
The British Council Kosovo are launching the Active Citizens programme In Kosovo from this October 2010.
Active Citizens can also be followed on Facebook
The British Council seeks a world where we are to be globally connected and locally engaged. The Active Citizens programme aims to encourage participants to realise their potential and exercise their responsibility in order to understand how to interact, engage and influence change within their local communities. They learn and act together to address community level issues and in turn influence global change. The African Philosophy of ‘Ubuntu’ which is to be understood/translated as “I am, because you are, because we are,” is a key feature of the Active Citizens programme.
Active Citizens will aim to increase the contribution of participants (motivators) who are already involved in local community projects by training them through a series of modules within a workshop environment. The programme will assist the growth of Active Citizens through the training workshops provided, enforcing a collective sense and ability to develop responsible attitudes towards sustainable development, values for working effectively with difference and cultivating project planning and management skills.
The Project fundamentally aims to stress the importance that small local, community issues, if addressed correctly and managed sustainably, can provide the opportunity for improvement and/or change. Participants will understand that numerous community Social Action Plans (SAP’s) in various countries Europe and worldwide leads to the possibility of global change. The global, cross national aspect to the programme is represented with the community exchange that occurs at the closing stages of the project. Successful Active Citizens will have the opportunity to visit a UK community to learn their techniques and share ideas, concepts and methods that aim to implement sustainable change.
Active Citizens was launched in 2009 and is currently running in 20 countries in Europe in addition to countries in both Africa and Asia.
In Europe the ambition is to:
- Build a network of 120 community leaders and master trainers, 1800 Active Citizens Motivators who will in turn build networks with 100,000 community members participating in SAP’s (Social Action Projects), workshops and exchanges.
- Another 10 million will be reached through on-line social networks and media based projects.
The Global Citizen
- Strong sense of local culture and history.
- Knowledge and understanding of local community.
- Project and business planning and management skills.
- Demonstrated sense of responsibility towards global sustainable development.
- Value for, and works effectively with, difference.
Hello world!
Posted on: September 29, 2010
“Hello World” as Alan Whicker would famously say on his travel programmes. Unfortunately Alan won’t be with us here at the British Council Kosovo but I will.
(With “I” being me, Jamie Pickton, an MA student on placement from Humboldt University, Berlin. Lucky you!)
However it’s a suitable title for our first ever blog post. We’ll be, well mainly I’ll be, commenting on the numerous projects that the British Council runs here in Kosovo in more detail and hopefully in a more informal and personal way than the website. Don’t get me wrong, the website is fantastic and provides all the key info you need to discover the goings on at the British Council but it’s always nice to read about the projects in more detail.
I’ll be updating the blog as often as possible, mostly focusing on these projects:
- Active Citizens
- Skills for Employability
- English Global Products
In the meantime while the work here is starting, check us out on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf#!/group.php?gid=39947694466&ref=ts and Twitter – http://twitter.com/BCKosovo
So keep keen and as they famously say “Watch this space!”
Kosovo Calling 