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Whicker’s World Foundation launches new grant for New York-based Chicken & Egg Pictures

Whicker’s World Foundation launches new grant for New York-based Chicken & Egg Pictures

  • Whicker’s World Foundation is expanding its reach to help ensure that more women enter the profession.
  • Chicken & Egg Pictures supports women non-fiction filmmakers whose artful and innovative storytelling catalyses social change.
  • Submissions for existing Whicker’s World Foundation Awards 2017 are being accepted.

Whicker’s World Foundation launches a new bursary for New York-based Chicken & Egg Pictures, to help fulfil their mission to increase the number of women documentary makers introduced into the industry pipeline.
Whicker’s World Foundation—set up to fund a new generation of documentary makers—is expanding its reach to help ensure that more women enter the profession. The Foundation, which awards one of the biggest cash prizes in documentary production (£80,000 to an individual) has created an additional annual £10,000 grant for Chicken & Egg Pictures’ Accelerator Lab program.

 

Accelerator Lab, open to applicants from around the world, provides first- and second-time women filmmakers with a $35,000 grant, a year-long creative support program with participation in three one-week labs (all expenses covered), mentorship catered to each individual and her project, and opportunities for networking with industry professionals and the filmmaker community. As Jenni Wolfson, Executive Director of Chicken & Egg Pictures, said about the program, “We don’t simply support films, we foster careers. This holistic approach is the key to successfully supporting women filmmakers.”

 


The New York-based organisation’s strategy uniquely aligns with Whicker’s World’s continued efforts to broaden the world of documentary. Announcing the new annual award, Alan Whicker’s lifelong partner and founder of the Foundation Valerie Kleeman said: “Alan wanted his legacy to help documentary makers the world over.  He was ahead of time in his enthusiasm and support for the female perspective in his own filmmaking.  At the Whicker’s World Foundation, we want to be sure that there is equal opportunity for men and women in documentary and I have been impressed by the fact that Chicken & Egg Pictures give to women when they most need it. I feel sure that funding at an early stage will make a huge difference to women in this industry.”

The Foundation is kicking off its support with a grant towards Assia Boundaoui’s participation in the Accelerator Lab program for The Feeling of Being Watched, an exploration of the FBI’s pre-9/11 counterterrorism activities in the filmmaker’s Arab-American neighbourhood outside of Chicago.

“We are so excited about this highly topical project and hope our support will help ‘accelerate’ Assia’s film towards receiving more funding and making the most powerful film she can. Last year, only one in five of our finalists for our main funding award was a woman. We hope the Whicker’s World grant to the Accelerator Lab will widen the base of would-be applicants,” said Jane Ray, Artistic Director of Whicker’s World Foundation.

Not the first time the two organisations crossed paths in the world of documentary, the Foundation previously made an ad-hoc payment of £5,000 to another Chicken & Egg Pictures grantee, Hana Mire, who is developing Rajada Dalka (Nation’s Hope), the working title of a film about Somalia’s women’s national basketball team.
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Notes to Editors:
 

For press enquiries about Whicker’s World Foundation please contact:

 

Siobhan Connor
CONNOR PR
+44 (0)7966 177025
siobhan@connorpr.com
www.connorpr.com
twitter: connorpr
About Whicker’s World Foundation

 

Whicker’s World Foundation was set up in 2015 and gives one of documentary’s biggest cash prizes (£80,000) to an authored documentary-maker every year and £15,000 to the runner up. Entries for the main WWF Funding award close on February 14th 2017.

 

Applications for the Radio & Audio Funding Award close 28th February 2017

Applications for the 2017 Audio Recognition Award close 14th February 2017

Applications for the 2017 Sage Awards close 14th February 2017

 

For further information visit www.whickersworldfoundation.com

 

 

Join the conversation: facebook.com/whickersworldfoundation

https://twitter.com/whickersworld   @whickersworld

 

 

Chicken & Egg Pictures
Chicken & Egg Pictures supports women non-fiction filmmakers whose artful and innovative storytelling catalyzes social change.

 

For more information, visit chickeneggpics.org or contact Cindy Choung, External Relations Manager, Chicken & Egg Pictures, at cindy@chickeneggpics.org

 

http://www.feelingofbeingwatched.com/home/#the-film

 

film, documentary, TV, Whicker’s World Foundation, Connor PR, specialist in film PR, Specialist in TV publicity

 

ALAN WHICKER COLLECTION NOW AVAILBLE TO VIEW AT BFI SOUTHBANK AS PART OF LATEST ACQUISITIONS EXHIBITION

 

ALAN WHICKER COLLECTION NOW AVAILBLE TO VIEW AT BFI SOUTHBANK AS PART OF LATEST ACQUISITIONS EXHIBITION

Inside Whicker’s World: The life and travels of Alan Whicker

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  • Alan Whicker collection on view now as part of an exhibition of material from the BFI National Archive’s Special Collections; ‘Latest Acquisitions is free to view in the Mezzanine Gallery at BFI Southbank until October 23
  • Items on display include Alan Whicker’s passports, a BBC Audience report for Whicker Down Under, interview question cards for Papa Doc: The Black Sheep (1969) and The World of James Bond (1967), photographs, correspondence, and shooting schedules
  • Test your knowledge by taking part in a travel quiz made by the Whicker’s World Foundation – https://whickersworldfoundation.com/2016/10/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-whickers-world/
  • Submissions for Whicker’s World Foundation Awards 2017 are now being accepted

As well as caring for one of the world’s richest and most significant moving image collections, the BFI National Archive also holds world-class Special Collections of scripts, posters, designs, photographs and other documents, including the archives of some of Britain’s most important film and programme makers. This exhibition presents highlights from some of our exciting recent acquisitions including the papers of Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan, television journalist and documentary-maker Alan Whicker, and S John Woods, the man behind many of the best-loved Ealing Studios posters. The exhibition is open now and free to view until October 23rd 2016 at BFI Southbank, Mezzanine Gallery, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XT.

 

The BFI National Archive is now home to the archives of pioneering investigative TV journalist, Alan Whicker, donated by Valerie Kleeman, Whicker’s World Foundation. The collection contains meticulous records of one of the most enduring and influential careers in British television history, spanning the late 1950s into the 21st century.

 

This is an extensive and significant donation covering the entire career of a world-renowned broadcaster, and represents a unique insight into the production methods of a master documentarian. Alan Whicker’s name is a by-word for brilliantly crafted and revealing studies of people and places, whether exploring behind the scenes of the Miss World competition, interviewing Papa Doc in Haiti, or exposing the lifestyles of the hippies of San Francisco, with an enquiring mind and a sceptical tone. This unlikely figure, clad in Gucci tie and blazer, found his way into the nation’s hearts as he went where his audience was unlikely to follow.

 

The meticulously kept Alan Whicker archive spans the years 1938-2014. It includes a school report from 1938, documents relating to his war career and letters, photographs, extensive production files, audience reports, interview notes and questions (including Whicker’s hand-annotated question cards) and transcripts of every TV programme he made, along with some, as yet, unidentified films. The archive gives an insider’s view of some of the key events, social trends and personalities of the 20th century, while fully documenting the changing world of television reportage across more than five decades.

 

 

Around Whicker’s World in 13 Guesses

Test your knowledge of Alan Whicker’s Life and Work by taking part in our quiz

https://whickersworldfoundation.com/2016/10/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-whickers-world/

 

Submissions for Whicker’s World Foundation Awards 2017 are now being accepted

 

The Funding Award

This is the primary focus of Whicker’s World Foundation. Each year £80,000 will be awarded to a new director with the most promising pitch for an authored documentary which fulfils the core criteria of the Foundation and can be completed for screening with this award. The money will be paid in instalments to the director’s film company, enabling a project which deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible. This year it was won by Alex Bescoby for Burma’s Lost Royals. The closing date for entries is 31st January 2017 and the shortlists will be announced in May 2016. Entrants must be aged 35 years or younger on the closing date for applications. The first winners will be announced by Whicker’s World Foundation at the Sheffield Doc/Fest Award Ceremony, which will take place on the final night of the 2017 festival, 13th June 2017.

 

The Whicker’s World Radio and Audio Funding Award (RAFA)

For 2017 we are introducing a new Funding Award for Radio and Audio documentary projects in association with the Radio Academy. This is for a documentary, 15 minutes or over, broadcast or published online in the previous year. The Whicker’s World Radio and Audio Funding Award (RAFA) has a £5,000 first prize and £2,000 runner up award. The deadline for this award is the 23rd of December, with the best pitch being announced at a special event in March 2017.

 

 

The Recognition Awards

In addition to our funding awards there are two further annual prizes to recognise completed work: the ‘Audio Award’ and the ‘Sage Award’, the latter of which is for the finest industry newcomer over the age of fifty.

Alan worked in radio before TV and was snapped up by Radio 2 in the late 1990s, adding what Jim Moir, the Controller from 1996 to 2003, described as “great lustre to my network”. Initially Alan’s radio programmes revolved around re-visiting his most memorable encounters from Whickers World: from the ‘Ten Pound Poms’ to Margaret Rutherford’s transsexual adoptee who ‘gave birth’ to a mixed-race daughter in South Carolina. He went on to create a radio history of television called Itll Never Last.

Whicker’s World Foundation will award an annual £5,000 prize for the best audio project of over 15 minutes in length, broadcast in the last year. A runner-up will receive £2,000.

The Whicker’s World Sage Award

‘Retirement’ was not a word in Alan’s vocabulary. He was 83 when he wrote and presented Whicker’s War, a much acclaimed account of his army experiences in Italy for Channel 4. He made his last series for BBC Two, Journey of a Lifetime, in his late eighties. The Sage award will recognise a TV or audio professional who has come to air with an authored story for the first time, a prize of £5,000 will be awarded annually to an applicant aged 50 plus. Submissions of no more than 10 minutes; this can be for presentation but must be their own work. A runner-up will receive £2,000. Keith Earnest Hoult won this award for for Fluechtlinge – Refugee. Keith, a fan of Alan Whicker’s ‘gentle approach’ to interviewing, was inspired to create a ten-minute film about Syrians seeking refuge in a disused airport used for the Berlin Airlift. When he witnessed his friend’s wife Caroline trying to help refugees against a growing backlash he ‘felt the urge to film it if only for her family to reflect on later in life’. Keith learnt his film-making skills at the SAE Institute after redundancy and divorce turned his life upside-down. Judges were impressed that he made this entirely self-funded film as ‘a simple tale of ordinary people helping other ordinary people at their time of most desperate need.’

 

For further details on the awards and entry forms please go to

www.whickersworldfoundation.com

 

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Notes to editors:

 

For images, media information and interviews please contact:

Siobhan Connor at Connor PR siobhan@connorpr.com   + 44 (0) 7966 177025

 

For Terms and Conditions and award Criteria please go to http://whickersworldfoundation.com/application-forms/

Join the conversation: facebook.com/whickersworldfoundation

https://twitter.com/whickersworld   @whickersworld

 

About Whicker’s World Foundation

On 7 June 2015 Whicker’s World Foundation, whose principle aim is to give a much needed fillip to authored documentary storytelling in the UK, launched three new documentary awards worth over £100,000 for the promotion of curiosity in programme making, generously funded by a legacy left by the celebrated broadcast journalist Alan Whicker. The launch took place in the Sheffield Winter Gardens led by Alex Graham, chair or Doc/Fest, Jane Ray, Artistic Director for the foundation and Kim Longinotto, multi award winning filmmaker. Entries for 2017 Awards opened on September 26th 2016 www.whickersworldfoundation.com

Sports Personalities Bake Up Some Fun for Sport Relief 2016

On Your Marks, Get Set… BAKE!

SPORTS PERSONALITIES BAKE UP SOME FUN FOR SPORT RELIEF 2016

 

Seven of Britain’s favourite sport stars have joined together to swap their boxing gloves for oven gloves and tennis rackets for sieves in a fun-packed photo shoot for Sport Relief.

 

Two-time World Champion boxer Amir Khan; tennis coach and current captain of the British Fed Cup team Judy Murray; former England rugby union player Ben Cohen MBE; TV presenter Suzi Perry; former Olympic skier and TV presenter Graham Bell; Channel 4 Racing presenter Emma Spencer; and Olympic Badminton Silver Medallist and ITV Eternal Glory Winner Gail Emms MBE

Two-time World Champion boxer Amir Khan; tennis coach and current captain of the British Fed Cup team Judy Murray; former England rugby union player Ben Cohen MBE; TV presenter Suzi Perry; former Olympic skier and TV presenter Graham Bell; Channel 4 Racing presenter Emma Spencer; and Olympic Badminton Silver Medallist and ITV Eternal Glory Winner Gail Emms MBE

For those wanting to ‘sport’ a new look in the kitchen, designer Orla Kiely has created a limited edition apron for Sport Relief. The apron is presented each night to the winner of ‘The Great Sport Relief Bake Off’ and is available to buy exclusively from Sport Relief official partners: brands-for-less homeware retailer, HomeSense, TK Maxx stores, tkmaxx.com and sportrelief.com. The apron retails at £12.99 with at least £5.25 going to Sport Relief.

 

Those championing the campaign are (pictured left to right): two-time World Champion boxer, Amir Khan who recently announced he will fight Mexico’s Saul Alvarez for the WBC world middleweight title on 7 May in Las Vegas; tennis coach and current captain of the British Fed Cup team, Judy Murray; former England rugby union player, Ben Cohen MBE; TV presenter, Suzi Perry; former Olympic skier and TV presenter, Graham Bell; Channel 4 Racing presenter, Emma Spencer; and Olympic Badminton Silver Medallist and ITV Eternal Glory Winner, Gail Emms MBE.

 

Since 2002, Sport Relief has raised over £262million. Sport Relief 2016 will take place between Friday 18th and Sunday 20th March, bringing the entire nation together to get active, raise cash and change lives. The money raised from the apron will go towards helping people living incredibly tough lives. Half of the money raised by the public for Sport Relief is used to make a difference right here at home in the UK, with the other half used to make a difference in the world’s poorest communities.

TV presenter, Suzi Perry said: “I’m proudly wearing my fabulous Orla Kiely Great British Sport Relief Bake Off apron from HomeSense and TK Maxx. By purchasing this apron you can help to transform people’s lives both across the UK and in the world’s poorest communities – so join in and bake yourself proud for Sport Relief.”

There’s no doubt that baking has captured the imagination of the nation. And the apron is the perfect way to ‘rise to the occasion’, supporting a great cause whilst baking yourself proud in the kitchen.

 

Judy Murray added: “Please shop till you drop and purchase this fabulous Sport Relief apron from HomeSense & TK Maxx stores. Designed by Orla Kiely, the aprons will raise cash that will help people living incredibly tough lives, here at home in the UK and across the world’s poorest communities. Together let’s make this the best Sport Relief yet.”

 

Don’t miss out on your very own limited edition Orla Kiely apron from HomeSense, TK Maxx stores, tkmaxx.com, sportrelief.com and help raise money for Sport Relief 2016

 

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Media Information

Individual images are available on request

For further press information and interview requests please contact:

Siobhan Connor at Connor PR / 07966 177025 / Siobhan@connorpr.com

Join the conversation

Facebook – @myHomeSense

Twitter – @HomeSenseUK

Instagram – @HomeSenseUK

 

#raisesomedough

#SR16

#GBBOsportrelief

@sportrelief

@ConnorPR

 

Connor PR and Sport Relief 2016

Connor PR working with Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (SOSA) on the ‘Don’t Touch It. It’s Mine’ campaign

CHILD ABUSE SURVIVORS UNITE IN MUSIC VIDEO TO RAISE AWARENESS OF HISTORIC HIGH POWER PAEDOPHILE RING & CALL FOR A REINVESTIGATION INTO HANGED BOY, PETER DAVIS’, DEATH

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LONDON, 24th November 2015: The victims of one of the world’s most horrific and high profile cases of child abuse will today unite to appear in a music video as part of a landmark venture to try and raise awareness of the high power paedophile ring, which included politicians, celebrities, scout masters, members of the Catholic church, that infiltrated more than 20 children’s homes in the Lambeth area from 1950’s – 2000’s. The “Don’t Touch It. It’s Mine” campaign aims to bring justice to the hundreds of victims that suffered at their hands, 12 of whom committed suicide, and lift a 100 year access restriction order on the victim’s files. Award winning author and chair of the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (SOSA), Alex Wheatle MBE, himself a victim of abuse at Shirley Oaks and now seeking justice, is hoping that the campaign will encourage more witnesses to come forward enabling police to reopen an investigation into 15 year old Peter Davis’ death, who was found hanged at Shirley Oaks in Croydon in 1977.

Written by music mogul, Raymond Stevenson, who discovered Jessie J when she was 15 and was himself physically abused going on to become the founder of SOSA, with input and melodies by X Factor / Alien Uncovered star, Temple Praise, the track is entitled ‘Dont Touch It. Its Mine’ and will be released in early December this year. The track features haunting testimonies from the victims. The video will tell the story of the true horror suffered by vulnerable young children during decades of abuse at Shirley Oaks and aims to encourage more people who have any information to come forward and speak out, so that police investigations can be reopened and Government can lift the 100 year access restriction on files for former Shirley Oaks residents. The video will be made available to download from the first week of December 2015 (date TBC) with all funds going towards helping SOSA track down victims from across the UK and around the world.

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Raymond Stevenson, SOSA founder, said: “I have done many campaigns and they have always been motivated by personal circumstances and issues that blight communities. Maybe because I survived the hell of Shirley Oaks I believe it’s my duty to help others. I say this not just because I was a victim but there can be no greater crime levied at humanity than paedophillia. Then add that these were abandoned children in the state’s care already unloved and frightened, some already victims and others whose parents died. Then add the lies, the cover-up, the conspiracy and now we learn that this could have all been prevented. This video will enable victims to tell their story through a medium that cannot be tampered with or edited. The chorus in the song simply says, ‘you don’t know what they done to me’. The video will show the fear horror and abuse through art. A line in the song that asks the question, ‘what happens if it was your child?”

 

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Amongst the alleged abusers are Jimmy Savile, as well as former Lambeth Labour councilors, Toren Smith and Susan Smith, who have been convicted. There have been two major police investigations into abuse at children’s homes in South London and a total of three people have been convicted of offences; one relating to Shirley Oaks, swimming instructor, William Hook, and the remaining two including Michael John Carroll who ran Angell Road children’s home and Les Paul from South Vale Children’s Home.

SOSA is demanding answers for one very specific matter – the sudden death of 15-year old Peter Davis in 1977, found hanged in a toilet with a cord around his neck. Following signs of sexual acitivy, a coroner ruled “death by misadventure“, but friends who grew up with him believe he was the target of paedophiles. Peter was the chief witness in a rape trial at the Old Bailey two years before he died where he gave evidence in regard to both his and his sibling’s rape. When the BBC looked for court documents from the time, they found that in 2003 they had been made secret for 100 years. Former senior detective Clive Driscoll said reopening the case would be a “great opportunity for detective work”.

Chuka Umunna, Labour MP for Streatham, who has constituents who are Lambeth abuse survivors said: “This is an important step for the campaign. I hope the excellent work that the survivors association are doing will help other survivors feel able to come forward and speak out. By the police’s own admission, previous investigations were ‘of the time’ and did not meet the standards we would apply today. The police owe it to the survivors group to reopen the investigation into Peter Davis’s death.”

The Metropolitan Police said officers looked at available material relating to Peter’s death in September 2014. A statement said: “In the absence of further new witnesses or new lines of inquiry, the matter remains closed. If new witnesses are identified who are prepared to provide police with statements that challenge the recorded decision then an assessment of that material will be undertaken.”

 

SOSA and Urban Concept’s1 research and on-going investigation is focused specifically on 1965 onwards when Lambeth took over the controls of Shirley Oaks. There have been multiple inquiries, most recently by the Metropolitan Police and Lambeth Council from 1998 – 2003, which cost millions of pounds, and resulted in the arrest of one paedophile from Shirley Oaks and two other paedophiles from other south London children’s homes. In the first eight months of interviewing over 300 children who attended Shirley Oaks and other South London Children’s Homes, Urban Concepts1 uncovered more than 16 paedophiles. When they discussed this with the Police their response was dismissive. A few weeks later Urban Concepts discovered a document produced by the Police and Lambeth Council which stated that 16 paedophiles died before or during the Police operation. This included one suicide during the trial in March 2003, 19 cases the alleged paedophile could not be identified and one case where the victim died before being able to give evidence. In some 11 cases the CPS took no further action and one case fell through after the suspected paedopile committed suicide during his trial.

 

Singers for the “Dont Touch It. Its Mine” campaign include 23 year old Millie from Essex, 21 year old Sophie from West Sussex and 21 year old Royal Opera House ballet dancer, Lucy from Stoke. The group known as ETHAMIA were selected based on their suitability to understand the subject matter and to empathise with the victims. When Urban Concepts1 played the track, the girls burst into tears and demanded to be part of the project. Taking their roles as ambassadors for victims seriously, the girls did their own research and went to Shirley Oaks and also accompanied the victims as they made a presentation to Lambeth council.

Principal crew for the music video will include: director, Giles Borg (Flutter, 1234, Home) with over twenty years of experience in music, film and television directing music videos, full length feature films, commercials and TV programmes; Jospeh Crone, a multi-talented fashion stylist and costume designer with a diverse list of clients and credits in the music, commercial and film sectors of the industry, from James Blunt to Dizzee Rascal, Investec to Innocent; and Ryan Jenkins, one of the UK’s most sought after choreographers, recently appointed creative director by UK government to represent and create work for Great Britain National day at Milan Expo 2015.

Choreographer, Ryan Jenkins, said: “This project has opened my eyes to the unimaginable pain and torture these people have experienced. It makes me so angry to know that nothing substantial has been done by those in authority. I want to help bring justice for these people. This is a story that needs to be told and the time is now.”

The Shirley Oaks campaigners are part of a wider phenomenon – a “survivor” activism that is changing the balance of power in relation to child abuse. Where once victims were ignored or silenced, now they are coming together through social media, forming support groups and building a crescendo of noise that the authorities are forced to acknowledge.

Lambeth Council is supporting the Shirley Oaks Survivors’ Association in their campaign to identify further victims and offer counselling to those who have not already received it but feel they would now benefit. 

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Join in the conversation @ShirleyOaksSA / #ShirleyOaks

 

**CAMPAIGN AMBASSADORS, RAYMOND STEVENSON AND ALEX WHEATLE MBE, ARE AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW UPON REQUEST**

Connor PR working promoting Shirley Oaks Survivors Association’s latest campaign, Don’t Touch It. It’s Mine

Very sad to hear about the death of TV psychic Colin Fry who I worked with at Living TV on Most Haunted & 6ixth Sense

I worked with Colin Fry for over 5 years launching his programmes on Living TV.

One very proud moment was landing a five page feature in The coolest magazine of the day The Face back in the early noughties

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Colin Fry, who has died aged 53, was a self-proclaimed medium who relayed messages from “the dead” to audiences in Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Japan; on British satellite television he featured in such “paranormal reality” shows as Most Haunted and 6ixth Sense.

Viewers hoping for dire warnings from beyond the grave would be disappointed. A warm and charismatic performer, Fry’s stage pronouncements tended towards the prosaic. Bereaved grandchildren were instructed to tidy their rooms; dead parents reassured their offspring that the end had been relatively peaceful.

Sceptics countered that Fry’s main talent lay in basic “cold reading” techniques – the art of analysing body language in order to make high-probability guesses about a person. In 1992 Fry was caught out at a seance when the lights were turned on unexpectedly, revealing that he was still holding a “spirit trumpet” that was meant to be suspended in mid-air. Fry later put the incident down to his relative inexperience at the time. He also denied any suggestions of exploitation, pointing to his training as a bereavement counsellor. Members of his audience were encouraged to seek professional help if Fry felt they were struggling to cope with their loss.

Though he had initially refused to appear on television on the grounds that most programmes made fun of spiritualism, Fry gave in when he was approached by producers at the age of 40. The format of the shows, however, tended once again towards the banal. A message broadcast before 6ixth Sense admitted that “differing opinions exist as to the true nature of clairvoyance and clairaudience”. None the less, the subject has proved adaptable to the small screen. Most Haunted completed its 17th series in 2015.

Colin Fry was born on May 19 1962 in Haywards Heath, West Sussex. His mother, Margaret, a student nurse, had intended to remain at home after the birth but suffered from post-partum depression and decided that work would be beneficial. Colin was raised in large part by his maternal grandmother, Lilian, with whom he shared a close – he would say psychic – bond.

From an early age, Colin became aware of an ability to perceive things that other members of his family could not. A vision of an old man – “like a taller, slightly thinner version of [Doctor Who] William Hartnell” – at the foot of his bed was a first glimpse of “Magnus”, who would become Fry’s proclaimed “spirit guide” in adulthood. Aged four, Colin announced to the table at teatime that “Old Nanny”, his great-grandmother, had died. A telegram to that effect arrived the next day.

After leaving school at 16 without any qualifications, Fry worked in the retail industry while giving demonstrations at spiritualist churches. But it was not until his stepbrother, Michael, died of Aids in 1996 that he resolved to become a full-time medium. Fry had nursed Michael for many years, and saw a chance to keep the relationship intact. “But he’s very clever,” he explained in 2003: “He’ll often pass messages to me through other mediums.”

Fry went on to become a reverend of the Spiritualist Church, and wrote several books on spiritual and mental well-being. A memoir, The Happy Medium, was published in 2012. The title seemed to contradict a life that had had its share of physical hardship. He became partially deaf aged 23 and relied on hearing aids in later years. Last April he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

A heavy smoker, he recalled an earlier encounter with a fellow spiritualist, who disapproved: “This old love said to me: ‘That’ll kill you, you know.’ I replied: ‘My love, do you honestly think that bothers me? I know where I’m going.’”

Colin Fry is survived by his civil partner, Mikey.

Colin Fry, born May 19 1962, died August 25 2015 – The Daily Telegraph

Tribute to the Queen of Saturday Night Television from a Blind Date contestant

I am so sad to hear about Cilla Black. She was the queen of Saturday night TV when I was growing up! Blind Date owned Saturday night in the 90s and I was very lucky to be part of it.  Cilla had a great sense of humour and what you saw on television was the real Cilla. There was no pretence about her, she was the queen of entertainment. Like many others, Blind Date helped pave my way for a career in TV and I’m still in touch with some of the production team. I went onto work with Cilla when she launched her own show on Living TV. I was number three and picked by Keith from Dublin. We won a trip to the Turks and Caicos Islands and it was magical.  Flew First Class and Suggs from Madness was on the plane. Happy memories!

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Siobhan Connor contestant on Blind Date, Siobhan Connor MD of Connor PR pays tribute to Cilla Black,