An Update On Some Of Our Champions

Some words from runner Stephen:“Since injury it has taken a few months to get confidence and fitness back, but through training sessions and speaking to people I am slowly moving forward positively. I have competed on three occasions this year.First race was the Sussex Road Relays at Christ Hospital where I was really pleased with my performance, finishing third overall fastest behind two great runners Charlie Grice and Spencer Thomas. A few weeks later I competed in the first British Athletics League Competition in Crawley K2 arena, where the race was tactical so my finishing time was not great. However came away with a victory pulling away 600m to go with last fast 400m.On Wednesday 31st May I competed at the Brighton Phoenix Open BMC, where I competed in the 3000m and came away with another victory. Since I am not fully fit yet and not where I would like to be, I was disappointed with my time.”Congratulations to Jessie-Jae for her theatre school performance on Saturday 3rd June.The show, which featured students of Goldman’s Theatre School in Brighton, Hove and Eastbourne was held at Roedean Theatre.Mel and Alex from the Starr Trust went along to support her. Mel says: “It was great to see Jessie-Jae on stage – we loved the colourful tap number and Jessie-Jae’s singing in ‘A Million Reasons’ was beautiful. From the beam on Jessie’s face, she was clearly having a wonderful time doing what she loves most”.Some words from photographer Ava:“Hi all, just a quick update on my photography project and grant from the Starr Trust.The money from the Starr Trust has enabled me to get all that I need to progress with my Gold Photography Arts project – to buy photography, video and audio software, to buy a new camera and to pay for meetings with my mentors – Lindsey Smith and Sarah Pain. They have guided me through the Arts Award structure and to complete the assignments.Recently, I have made leaps and bounds with my Award.First, I have made my short film; ‘In the Nightmare’. I have posted it up on YouTube and Facebook so that I can hear people’s thoughts on it. The comments on the film had all been positive and in some, people have told me about what they fear.

After that, I wrote an essay on the roles of woman in horror films and whether their involvement had improved or not. I concluded that the roles of woman in the modern era have been getting better thanks to more women becoming involved in horror and writing and directing films.For the second part of my award, I am currently planning an event where artwork about people’s fears (both understandable and ‘silly’) are discussed and showcased. The event will feature opportunities to talk with audiences about their fears and/or display photos, films, songs, poems and other art forms about their fears and how they view them.This event will be the climax of all my work. I’m hoping for the event to occur in July or August. I’m hoping to invite the artists that I know and even send an invitation to other young artists who have won awards from the Starr Trust to attend and possibly display work if they would like.I feel that my project is going according to plan. I’ve received positive feedback for my photography from the Varndean photography course leader who has recommended me for A level photography - a key aim of applying for an award from the Starr Trust in the first place was to enable me to move on to level 3 photography at Varndean.Thank you so much to the Starr Trust for their generous award – it has helped me so much!”