THE TRUST IN 2002

For the Trust, it has been a year of growth, new relationships and visible results. It has now become a year of loss. Four freelance camerapeople have been killed. The most recent was someone we knew well. Roddy Scott was killed in Ingushetia in September. One of the Trust's 'invisible' friends, he had been trying to help us find the families of three freelancers who had been killed in Chechnya. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

Making contact with the families of freelancers who have been killed is a very significant part of our work. In May, the Trust was invited to join The Free Expression Panel set up by Dr. Dennis McShane, the UK Foreign Office Minister responsible for Human Rights. At the first meeting which took place in July, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office offered to publicise the Trust's work through their embassies. Similarly, we have begun to make links with the British Council, whose office in Bogota helped us to locate three families in need and distribute our grants to them safely. We hope to build on these relationships, developing links with embassies and British Council offices worldwide. This will raise awareness of our work overseas and help us in the search for potential beneficiaries.

We continue to receive enquiries about affordable insurance from freelancers all over the world and are now supported in our endeavours by many other organisations. In January, I discussed the problem of insurance for freelancers with the Freelance Experts Group of the International Federation of Journalists. The demand for bursaries from The Rory Peck Training Fund is growing. Media budgets are stretched to the limit these days and our search for support is ongoing. The single biggest contribution anyone can make is to give media workers the skills they need to do their work properly in an increasingly dangerous world.

My thanks go to two Trustees who have stepped down this year. Both have been closely involved with the Trust since it began and have contributed enormously to its development. Peter Henderson's generous support, both as an individual and a sponsor, enabled the Trust to survive hard times and continue its work. Charlie Hoff was instrumental in forming the Trust's policy on safety, training and insurance. I am delighted to report that they are both continuing their involvement by remaining on the Trust's Committee. In their place I welcome three new Trustees whose combined energy and experience greatly strengthen the Board: Michael Jermey, Managing Director of ITN International; Raj Parker, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Andy Tilley, Head of Business Development, Sky News.

Our relationship with Awards sponsor Sony has sparked off new initiatives and, importantly, is leading to a growing awareness of our work in Europe. Setting up a panel of European broadcasters to meet in Paris just two days before September 11th hardly seemed a wise thing to do. However, thanks to the support of Sony France, and the tireless flow of ideas and encouragement from Donna Hatchett, it all happened as planned. A highly experienced panel of judges met at Sony France on September 9 to judge The Sony International Impact Award. They argued, ate a good lunch, drank some fine wine, argued some more and - as it turned out - settled on the finest freelance footage of the year. One week later, at Channel 4 Television in London, two separate panels met to judge The Rory Peck Award for Hard News and The Rory Peck Award for Features. They viewed, ate a (tasty) canteen lunch washed down with water, viewed some more - and came to remarkably similar conclusions.

And so to The Rory Peck Awards. The wonderful thing about the Awards is that the team of people involved in putting it all together just grows and grows. This year, the Awards has become a truly cross-industry production and I sincerely thank all the judges, panel chairs, broadcasters and agencies involved. I would like to pay special tribute to our popular and hugely skilled event producer Sarah Ward Lilley - and welcome the skilled eye of producer Nick Rabin and the blast of energy that is our other producer, James Blake.

One of the best things in the Trust's year happened just four weeks ago in a hospital in Toronto. Ugandan freelance cameraman Henry Ford had been unable to work since he was severely injured in an ambush in 1999. Dr. Anthony Feinstein persuaded his medical colleagues at the University of Toronto to give their skills and services for free in order to help Henry have his long-awaited hip replacement operation. The Trust's grant covered Henry's travel and accommodation costs. The operation was successful and Henry is currently recuperating. Many thanks to Dr. Anthony Feinstein, Dr. Hans Kreder, Dr. Gil Faclier, Bridgepoint Health Care and all the team at the Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto.

The Trust has made five charitable grants this year, including one to Colombian widow Bernarda Rodriguez who lost both her sons in an ambush. Totally dependent on her sons, she was living in rented accommodation in abject poverty. The Trust's relief grant will pay her rent and help her subsist. We are delighted that we could play a part in Henry's case - and in that of Bernarda Rodriguez. However, it has to be said that if we had more funds, we could have helped this man much, much sooner and that woman much, much more.

Tina Carr
Director, The Rory Peck Trust

The Rory Peck Awards Brochure 2002

• Programme
• A Shared Responsibility
• The Trust in 2002
• Freelancers Deserve More
• Freelance Stories of the Year / APTN
• From the Sponsor
• The Trust and Sony
• Judging Panels
• Judges' Reports
• List of Entrants
  

• Winners
• Finalists
• The Freelancers' Choice 2002

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