News : Still time for young people in Cumbria to take part in a competition to win £500
There is still time for young people in
The competition, which is being run by the West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership, aims to encourage young people to think about what an underground repository for higher-activity radioactive waste in
To take part, young people aged 18 or under on the competition’s closing date of March 12 need to either produce an article up to 500 words long or a film or audio podcast of up to four minutes long.
The entries need to be balanced reports of the kind found in newspapers, on TV, or the radio rather than arguments either for or against the area taking part in the Government’s search for a suitable site for a repository.
The competition will be judged by two local journalists – Jonathan Lee, the editor and publishing director of the North West Evening Mail, and Samantha Parker, a reporter for ITV Border – as well as Reverend Lindsay Gray of Churches Together in
Reverend Lindsay Gray said: “There is still time left for young people to take part in our competition. It is a good way for young people to get to know more about the issues surrounding a decision on whether the area should take part in the Government’s search.
“A repository would affect the area for many generations into the future so we, as a Partnership, are keen for as many young people as possible to learn about the issues involved.
“If we do take part in this process there would still be a right for the local authorities to withdraw up until the point where construction could start, more than a decade from now. So today’s young people would be involved as adults in taking any decision about whether to have a repository sited in the area.”
The competition winners will receive £500 and there will be three runners-up prizes of £150.
Entries can be by an individual or a group, including a school class. If winning entries are submitted on behalf of a class or a group the prize will be given to the school or organisation concerned.
Entries must be submitted with a completed entry form, which is available from the Partnership’s website www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk, and can either be emailed to contact@westcumbria.org.uk (as long as the file size is below 5mb) or posted to Freepost RSKT-LTXU-HAYC, West Cumbria MRWS Partnership, Copeland Borough Council, The Copeland Centre, Catherine Street, Whitehaven, CA28 7SJ.
The competition forms part of a large programme of public consultation which is due to run until March 23.
All secondary schools in
For more information about the West Cumbria MRWS Partnership and to view all the competition terms and conditions please visit www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk
Ends
For media enquiries please contact the Partnership’s communications advisor Paul Gardner or Ian Boydon at Osprey Communications on 01524-782086 or 077667906561
1. The Chair of Partnership rotates between the three principle authorities on the Partnership – Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council.
2. In addition to Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council there are a range of other organisations making up the Partnership, including Barrow Borough Council, local trade unions, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Churches Together Council, Eden District Council, South Lakeland District Council, Carlisle City Council, the Lake District National Park Authority, the Cumbria Association of Local Councils, NuLeAF (the Nuclear Legacy Advisory Forum), the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce and Cumbria Tourism.
3. A number of other organisations attend as ‘observing members’ including Government departments, the Isle of Man Government, CoRWM (Committee on Radioactive Waste Management), the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the safety and environment regulators.
4. The Government is looking for a community in the