Community TV Trust [CTVT] specialises in local media. Since 1999 it has given training to people of all ages and abilities, facilitating vision and production. It also produces films, educational DVDs, and organises events. It campaigns and through its founder, Chris Haydon, gives talks and papers at conferences, seminars and educational events.
Media’s real power lies beyond the mainstream. When you link the media made with the life lived, media’s real potential is realized, its potential for serving the individual and society.
CTVT has no core funding and welcomes donations, volunteers and corporate enquiries regarding project sponsorship.
Its purpose is represented by its largest web-based project, “Southwark.TV” [www.southwark.tv], which in turn gave rise to CTVT’s definition of local media in The Southwark Template: WEB-EVENT-TV. This came directly from the practice and management “Southwark.TV” (Click here for the archived site).
Over the years we have worked intensively in Southwark in south London, and also spent many happy years linked to the disability community and mental health sector. We have led media training and filmmaking projects galore, both facilitated film drama projects with young people typically and from time to time our own commissioned documentary productions.
Key clients from a long list have been Cavendish School in Bermondsey, Southwark
… Freewheelers Theatre & Media Company – an inclusive disability arts company …
… Movement Factory
… Mental Fight Club – an innovative organisation founded by the late and very special Sarah Wheeler, and Southwark Council – for whom we have produced films, promotional videos and several large educational DVD projects on subjects such as Knife Crime, Islam in Southwark and Healthy Eating.
Dear Sir / Madam
We are currently looking into funding to produce a local community TV channel for the county of Powys in Wales.
Could you advise me on reading and organisations that i may apply to for advice and funding.
Yours Sincerely
Marc Jones
Dear Marc,
If you are thinking of broadcasting you could speak with Community Media Association and with Ofcom, the regulator, who will brief you on the basic parameters. However that route is expensive and complex, with overheads of consequence. Using the internet, once broadband is generally available to an area, makes most sense by reducing costs while increasing accessibility. I am trying to work up a model for FE Colleges to adopt, since they have a labour force who don’t need paying. The trick appears to be (a) finding a college who will support the initiative, perhaps by using a teaching unit such as ‘Social Action and Community Media Production’ (which actually exists and which I am currently teaching in a college in Hertfordshire (b) finding a group of students who connect with the thinking implicit in local media and engagement. Their heads are mainly in celebrity, special FX and music.
As for funding the start of my “Southwark.TV” project, I bumped into a pot of money via the local authority and LSC. When that ran out five years ago I reverted to living off individual production and/or training projects and juggling volunteers.
Let me know how you get on, I’d be pleased to keep in touch.
Kind regards,
Chris Haydon
chris@communitytvtrust.org