Gatehouse Awards
The Gatehouse Getting Better Award
The Gatehouse Getting Better Award is awarded each year to an adult learner who is overcoming significant barriers to learning in his/her life.
Marie McNamara, author of the Gatehouse Book, Getting Better, has overcome significant difficulties in her own life to graduate in Nursing from Salford University. Yet just a few years ago, Marie was a stay-at-home single mother of three children, living on benefits, who struggled with reading and writing and had no qualifications or worthwhile job prospects.
Now, newly graduated from Salford University, Marie is beginning her first job as a fully qualified nurse. The lives of Marie and her children have been transformed. Importantly, as Marie’s skills developed, so have her children’s.
"Going back to education was changing all our lives.
History was not going to repeat itself.
I was making sure of that."
Marie’s aim is to encourage others like her to take the steps needed to improve their lives. To this end, Marie wants the royalties from sales of her book, Getting Better, to be used to encourage people to get writing and thinking about how they can make their own lives better.
Learners are invited to write and send in their own story to Gatehouse.
The writer of the winning story (as selected by a judging panel) will receive a prize of £100.
The entry deadline for the Gatehouse Getting Better Award 2010 is 30th September 2010.
Click here to download a submissions form
The Gatehouse Getting Better Award 2009 was awarded to Diana Page and Janet Baker who shared First Prize and Andrew Forbes, Runner-up.
The Gatehouse Books Prize
The Gatehouse Books Prize is awarded to a student of Edge Hill University who has shown excellence in the teaching of literacies or vocational studies and who, during the course of their teaching experience, has encouraged learners to write as part of their personal development. The recipient of this award has shown that he/she appreciates...
• how writing can empower learners
• how writing can develop learners’ self-esteem & confidence
• the importance of valuing the learners' narrative voice
• the role of writing in inspiring others
• how writing can give a purpose to learning
• how writing can help people to come to terms with issues
• how writing can help our understanding of other cultures
• the importance of encouraging learners to recognise and celebrate their knowledge and achievements in the context of their own lives
The Gatehouse Books Prize Winner 2009 is David Monaghan.
